The seminar focuses on key concepts of law from the perspective of criminology, criminal law, and literary studies which were either discussed again after the Holocaust or have newly emerged, such as the concept of genocide. The focus will be on a critical discussion of coherent terminology while historical semantics of key legal terms will form the methodical basis.

The discussions, based on a historical perspective, will not only contribute to a reorientation of historical approaches to memory, but also tie in with specialist history through their method: In the 19th century, legal interpretation and philologies developed in dialogue. Concepts such as "fundamental rights", "citizenship", "state of emergency", "coup d'état", "responsibility", "witness", "equality", and "war" will be examined in the course of the seminar. The findings will be reflected upon theoretically with regard to normativity, meaning, and interpretation.

Future tasks of a historically accentuated interdisciplinary dialogue of criminal law and literary studies will be outlined, which result from the intersections of the respective knowledge interests and fields of work for a critical conceptual history. The seminar is based on a blended learning concept and is conducted in cooperation with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The course will be taught by Klaus Hoffmann-Holland, Professor of Criminology, Yuval Shany, Professor of International Law, Susanne Zepp, Professor of Spanish, Portuguese and French literatures, and Renana Keydar, Postdoctoral Fellow in the field of Law and Literature.