A South Asian edition of my book is now out with Manohar Books: Fear of the False: Forensic Science and the Law of Crime in Colonial South Asia: share.google/GyQAHwpnQUwB... This version is hard cover. The Open Access e-book is available on the Cornell UP website. #legalhistory

New Books Network podcast now out with @saumyadadoo.bsky.social on my new book: Mitra Sharafi, "Fear of the False: Forensic Science and the Law of Crime in Colonial South Asia" (Cornell UP, 2026) - New Books Network share.google/OCQqe8gmR6vh... @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social #legalhistory

Had to go to the rainforests of Borneo for this

Orangutan in the wild! Amazing couple of days in Malaysian Borneo, on my way to the Asian Legal History Conference in Melaka

South Asia historians should apply:

Thomas Hegghammer@hegghammer.net · 2mo ago

All Souls College, Oxford, is seeking 5 Postdoctoral Research Fellows in - Asian and Middle Eastern Studies - History of Art/History of Music - Law - Life Science - Theoretical Computer Science These are 5-year appointments starting autumn 2027. Deadline: 4 Sep 2026 www.asc.ox.ac.uk/post-doctora...

Call for All Souls postdoc in Law could mean legal history: 5 years (!). Applications due Sept.4, 2026 👇

Thomas Hegghammer@hegghammer.net · 2mo ago

All Souls College, Oxford, is seeking 5 Postdoctoral Research Fellows in - Asian and Middle Eastern Studies - History of Art/History of Music - Law - Life Science - Theoretical Computer Science These are 5-year appointments starting autumn 2027. Deadline: 4 Sep 2026 www.asc.ox.ac.uk/post-doctora...

Across different geographies, time periods and legal fields, the work of Sumudu Atapattu, Alexandra Huneeus, Heinz Klug and @mitrasharafi.bsky.social shares a common goal: to examine law in action. We spoke with all four about their recently published or forthcoming works: buff.ly/t7Aaeye.

From the one and only Dirk Hartog: "You should always start writing before you think you're ready." Hard to do, but such good advice. Lodged in my head for the past 20+ years!

I was gutted to stop assigning research papers in my undergrad courses. I just don't think we can do it in the age of AI. But I've been really happy with the new thing I'm doing instead, which combines digitized historical newspapers + presentation + mini-viva: salh.law.wisc.edu/2026/06/18/p...

Presentations not papers for teaching

I’ve given up trying to assign undergraduate research papers in the age of AI. The misconduct approach–assigning papers and trying to catch AI use–does not seem to be working. However, I am happy with...

salh.law.wisc.edu

Who's going to the ASLH Conference in Banff this year? I'm not giving a paper (alas, my proposal was rejected) but I plan to be there. #legalhistory @aslegalhist.bsky.social Check here for the conference details: aslh.net/conference/2...

Moira Rose: Won't You Join Me? (Schitt's Creek)

ALT: Moira Rose: Won't You Join Me? (Schitt's Creek)

static.klipy.com

I'm attending a digital humanities event in Montreal. There was a keynote on AI and something about the talk made me wonder if it had been written by Claude. I said as much in the Q&A. As I posed the question, the speaker shifted, looking slightly uncomfortable. What he said next shocked the room +

Sad to learn of passing of eminent historian Carlo Ginzburg; his "The Cheese and the Worms" is one of the books that had the most impact on me as a grad student, as the writing is lively & builds insight from small, carefully observed details of the historical record en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Che...

Mickaël Wilmart@mickaelwilmart.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Carlo Ginzburg est mort, annonce la presse italienne. Immense historien, il a su construire une oeuvre originale entre micro-histoire et anthropologie historique qui a considérablement renouvelé la discipline. www.repubblica.it/cultura/2026...

My latest book cakes, for our two new books on the block! Chocolate ganache icing for my friend & neighbor Laura McClure's cake & cream cheese icing flavored with freeze-dried cherries for mine. (FYI: Jessica of SweetSugarTops on Etsy has an icing printer for all your edible book cover needs.)

Q for scholars of the Dutch empire & decolonization: a friend's father spent the 1950s in Papua New Guinea where he recorded the last stages of Dutch rule. Would any institutions or scholars be interested in several hours of film footage, once digitized? Looking for a good home for these materials.

For early career scholars working on legal history topics: please consider applying for the Virtual Early Career Legal History Workshop for AY2026-27, led by ASLH past president Barbara Welke. Applications are due June 30, 2026: aslh.net/award/virtua... #legalhistory @aslegalhist.bsky.social

CALL FOR PAPERS AND POSTERS: 9th Biennial Conference of the European Society for Comparative Legal History: Transition and Transfers (Lund: Lund University, 21-23 JUN 2027) [DEADLINE 31 OCT 2026] esclh.blogspot.com/2026/06/call...

CALL FOR PAPERS AND POSTERS: 9th Biennial Conference of the European Society for Comparative Legal History: Transition and Transfers (Lund: Lund University, 21-23 JUN 2027) [DEADLINE 31 OCT 2026]

The organisers and the Executive Council of the European Society for Comparative Legal History are pleased to call for papers and po...

esclh.blogspot.com

Other papers at the conference include topics such as: Scots lawyers during the Enlightenment, the Scottish Justiciary Court during the 17th century, and solatium (a Scottish remedy, namely damages for non-pecuniary harm). See the link above to access the draft programme for BLHC 2026,

The British Legal History Conference will be taking place this summer in Nottingham. Scottish legal history will be well represented at the conference, with Society Vice President Hector MacQueen presenting a keynote lecture.

Podcast just out on my new book, Fear of the False, covering everything from planted animal blood and archival research to AI (of course) and public mistrust of science: open.spotify.com/episode/44yI... Always such a pleasure to chat with my UW Law Library colleague Kristopher Turner! #legalhistory

Episode 46: Professor Mitra Sharafi discusses Fear of the False, her new book about colonial South Asia's critical role in the development of forensic science

Law in Action: A UW Law School Podcast · Episode

open.spotify.com

Legal historians: please consider applying for the ASLH Virtual Working Group program for AY2026-27. These are themed (last year: consent, environmental, radical legal advocacy)+could be for a 2nd book ms group. Proposals due June 30, 2026: aslh.net/virtual-work... @aslegalhist.bsky.social

The American Society for Legal History has started an account here: @aslegalhist.bsky.social Welcome to Bluesky! #legalhistory

Massive thanks to @hanruzhou.bsky.social for getting our volume on the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council to the publishers. It'll be out open access in a while, but here is the TOC to whet your appetities:

Ilyas Chattha's *Citizens to Traitors: Bengali Internment in Pakistan, 1971-1974* (Cambridge UP, 2025) is one the most important books for contemporary subcontinental history in the last 15 years.

For anyone who published a book, article, or digital project on legal history between Jan.2025 and Dec.2026: you should apply to be featured in the ASLH's virtual event series for next yr--"Making Connections: New Works in Legal History, 2026-27." Due June 30, 2026: aslh.net/virtual-book... (1/2)

Faculty senate abolished at Auburn: www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

Auburn Board Takes Curricular Control, Dissolves Senate

The policies mirror the directives laid out in HB 580, which doesn’t take effect until October and doesn’t apply to the institution.

insidehighered.com

The Big Library at Ushaw House in County Durham is home to more than 50,000 rare books, early manuscripts and first editions, many of international importance. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Ushaw Big Library to allow public to peruse rare books

For one day a month, people can view important volumes usually only seen by researchers.

bbc.co.uk

FYI: The impressive "Heritage Forensics" by @lkhatcha.bsky.social, @atsmith68.bsky.social, Ian Lindsay, & Husik Ghulyan is out now! Find more on their important work at @caucasushw.bsky.social and how to get your copy at @cornellupress.bsky.social's page: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

@irpinaingiro.bsky.social @hidehirota.bsky.social

I hugely enjoyed our New Books in South Asian Legal Studies panel @ LSA conference in San Francisco last week. Each of us discussed our own book + another author's book from the panel. Organized by Rahela Khorakiwala @lawandsociety.bsky.social #SouthAsianStudies #legalhistory

We're just a few days away from the big *June 1, 2026* deadline for many Am. Society for Legal History prizes. Don't miss this chance to have your legal history research recognized or funded: aslh.net #legalhistory #aslh

American Society for Legal History

The American Society for Legal History was founded in 1956 to foster interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching in the broad field of legal history. The Society holds its Annual Meeting each fall. The...

aslh.net