Rotating international Chair

The Chair Ganshof van der Meersch was established in 1995 by the Foundation Wiener Anspach in memory of Walter Jean Ganshof van der Meersch. He was founder and President of the Institute for European Studies at the ULB, holder of the chair of Public Law at the ULB, Attorney General at the Belgian Court of Cassation and Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights. 

The chair, held at the ULB by a visiting professor from Cambridge or Oxford, focuses on the economic, historical, political and legal aspects of European integration or on public law. The holder of the Chair for 2025-2026 is Professor Liz Fisher.  

Liz Fisher, BA/LLB (UNSW), D Phil (Oxon) is Professor of Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law and Corpus Christi College, at the University of Oxford. Her research explores the mental constructs lawyers and legal scholars use to legally reason, particularly in relation public administration and environmental problems. Her work is grounded in national common law jurisdictions. 

You can discover her research interests and publications on this page: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/people/liz-fisher. 

This course aims to:
- introduce students to the specific topics linked to Professor Fisher's core research interests
- help students develop their knowledge and skills, notably present orally and write academically in English 
- develop students’ ability to critically discuss at a Masters level the relevant themes of the course
- encourage students to develop further their particular interests related to the relevant themes of the course.  

Connaissances et compétences pré-requises ou co-requises

Not applicable. 

The course is composed of two parts: the main one consists of the lectures taught by Professor Fisher, which will be embedded in master classes offered to students of the ULB Faculty of Law and Criminology, and an evening public lecture. Participation to those lectures is mandatory.

The remaining sessions are devoted to group presentations moderated by Prof. Chloé Brière, that will take place around late March/early April. Attendance to these group presentations is encouraged. Students will then have to submit a paper by the end of April.

Références, bibliographie et lectures recommandées

The readings and course materials will be available on the Université virtuelle : TRAN-O607 - Rotating international Chair - 2025-26. Registration for the group presentations and submission of papers will also be conducted via the Université Virtuelle. 
 

Support(s) de cours

• Université virtuelle

Informations complémentaires

Attendance to the lectures taught by Professor Fisher is mandatory. The conduct of an internship will not be a reason to justify your absence(s). 

Contacts

Prof. Chloé Brière (chloe.briere@ulb.be)

Campus

Solbosch

Méthode(s) d'évaluation

• Présentation orale
• Autre
• Rapport écrit

Présentation orale

Autre

Rapport écrit

Final grades will be awarded as a combination of three elements:

1. Participation throughout the whole class (20%) 
2. A group presentation on a topic related to the themes addressed by Prof. Fisher (30%) 
3. A written paper (max 2,500 words) on a topic related to the themes addressed by Prof. Fisher (50%). The bibliography must include a minimum of 10 academic articles or books as citations. Citations of newspaper articles or blogs etc. are in addition to these minimum of 10 citations of academic work.

On the presentations: group presentations will be scheduled after the end of the lectures taught by Professor Fisher. They will be moderated by Professor Brière. More details will be shared at the beginning of the course. Each presentation should be no more than 15 minutes long. Please note that it is only possible to participate in a group presentation in the first session. No resit will be offered in August for that component of the class. 

Construction de la note (en ce compris, la pondération des notes partielles)

A written paper (50%), participation (20%) and group presentations (30%).
 

Langue(s) d'évaluation

• anglais