Jerusalem 3

I've just wound up a very busy week in Jerusalem.  The Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has been hosting several conferences and had at least two faculty workshops with guest speakers.  The Hebrew University is a very, very distinguished institution, and its Faculty of Law is superb.  The students are first-rate, and the faculty are highly productive, very well known, and interesting and highly articulate colleagues.  On the basis of the large number of reprints and other writings that I've been given, it seems to me that this faculty is publishing in some of the most highly regarded U.S. law reviews with a regularity that top-10 or top-15 U.S. law school faculties would envy.  And the discussions at the faculty workshops and conferences have been superb. 

For the last several days, the law faculty has hosted a conference on "Empirical Methods in Criminal and Civil Procedure."  The program is here, and from that webpage you can download the papers that were presented.  It was a first-rate conference, and its organizer, Professor Doron Teichman, is to be congratulated. 

The class that I've been teaching is entitled "Economic, Behavioral, and Empirical Analysis of Contract Law."  The syllabus for the course is Download hebrew_university.Contracts.Syllabus.May, 2008.doc .  Originally, there were only 10 students in the class, and we had divided up reading and reporting responsibilities among those students for the many articles on the syllabus.  But we've had so many join the class that that is no longer feasible.  Nonetheless, as part of their course requirements, the students are going to submit written comments on many of the readings.  Later in the Summer I will compile all those submissions and circulate them.  I'll also post them on this website. 

Following a suggestion made by a colleague at Hebrew University, i took a walk late this afternoon south from the Mishkenot Shaananim along the Hebron Road until I found Naomi St.  I turned east on Naomi and after a few blocks found a delightful walk called the Sherover Promenade.  It is a park-like, paved walkway that runs for a couple of miles along a ridge south of the Old City.  The views of the Old City and of the Valley of Hinnom are spectacular.  It's a little bit of a hike to find the Promenade, but if you get to Jerusalem, don't miss it. 

I've finished two books this week.  I recommend Bill Bryson's Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid in the highest possible terms.  It is a complete and utter delight.  I listened to the author read the book while I was going on long walks around Jerusalem.  There were parts that were so funny that I had to stop walking and simply stop to laugh.  I'm sure the natives wanted to put a coat on me with long sleeves that tie in the back.  The other book I've just finished is Richard Stark's Dirty Money.  "Richard Stark" is the distinguished mystery novelist Donald Westlake, and this is the latest in a series of books about the uninominal "Parker," who makes his living stealing money and can be a very rough customer.  The others in the series have been top-drawer stories.  This one is a lower drawer. 

Tomorrow I'm taking a tour of Bethlehem. 

TSU