Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Ruth Houghton

Lecturer in Law

Background

Ruth is a co-coordinator of the Law School's Constitutionalism and Governance research group.

Ruth joined Newcastle Law School as a Lecturer in September 2017. She worked at Durham Law School as a Graduate Teaching Assistant from 2013 to 2016 and was also a part-time lecturer at the Durham Global Security Institute (DGSI).

Ruth's research is situated within global constitutional scholarship. She is particularly interested in the debates on democracy and constituent power within global constitutional literature.

She is currently working with Professor Aoife O'Donoghue on feminist approaches to global constitutionalism, with work that explores utopianism, science-fiction literature, and feminist manifestos. 

Qualifications

  • PhD (Durham University)
  • Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (Durham University)
  • LLM (University College London)
  • GDL (University of Birmingham)
  • BA in English and History (University of York)

Roles and Responsibilities

Memberships

  • Associate Member of the International Association of Electoral Law
  • Fellow of the Global Policy Institute (Durham University)
  • Society of Legal Scholars
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
  • Honorable Society of the Inner Temple



  


Research
Throughout her research in global constitutionalism and international law, Ruth uses feminist methodologies and constitutional and political theory to challenge the disciplinary assumptions on democracy and constituent power. Ruth's most recent work utilises law and humanities methodologies, including work on speculative fiction, utopias and feminist manifestos (with Professor Aoife O'Donoghue), as well as theatre productions to understand (re)constructions of constitutional moments and provide novel re-imaginings of constituent power.

Ruth is currently working on the following chapters: 'The Individual in Feminist Approaches to International Law' in Thomas Sparks and Anne Peters (eds) The Individual in International Law (forthcoming); 'Feminist Approaches to Global Constitutionalism' in Anthony F Lang Jr., and Antje Wiener (eds), Handbook on Global Constitutionalism (2nd Edition, Edward Elgar).

Research Topics

  • Global Constitutionalism
  • International Law
  • Democratic Theory
  • Constitutional Theory
  • International Organisations
  • Feminist Theory
  • Utopia

Research Funding

  • 2021 - British Academy Virtual Sandpits: 'Understanding international law's role in mis- and disinformation' (with Dr Nora Jansen)
  • 2021 - British Academy Virtual Sandpits: 'Bridging the Local and the Global: Women's Collectives and Spaces of Action/Reflection' (with Dr Jane Rooney and Dr Aliya Khalid, and Dr Kate Spencer-Bennett and Alana Farrell)
  • 2020 - Society of Legal Scholars (SLS): 'Finding Magna Carta in Shakespeare's King John'
  • 2015-2017 - Durham University Institute of Advanced Study: 'Scaling Global Governance' and 'Scale, Constitutionalism and Tyranny' (with Prof. Aoife O'Donoghue, Dr Maria Anna Corvaglia and Dr Alan Greene)
  • 2015 - Durham Global Security Institute: 'Global and Comparative Law' (with Dr Se-shauna Wheatle)

PhD Supervision

I welcome PhD applications within the fields of Global Constitutionalism, Public International Law and Constitutional Theory. 

Current PhD Supervisions

  • Environmental Constitutionalism in China
  • Membership of the European Union
  • Access to Fertility Treatment in Hong Kong

Completed PhD Supervisions

  • Dr Yuki Motoyoshi - The Legality of Military Operations against Non-State Actors, when the Territorial State is Unwilling or Unable to Suppress the Threat of Non-State Actors


Invited Papers and Seminars

  • Feminist Constitutionalism: feminist law-making workshop (6 May 2021)
  • 'Utopias, Colonialism & International Law' (with Aoife O'Donoghue) Warwick Centre for Critical Legal Studies and Critical Legal Thinking Online Seminar Series (February 2021)
  • ‘Utopias, Colonialism & International Law’ (with Aoife O’Donoghue) Birmingham Global Legal Studies Reading Group (10 December 2020)
  • ‘Ourworld’: A feminist approach to global constitutionalism’ (with Aoife O’Donoghue) Global Constitutionalism webinar series (5 June 2020)
  • ‘Constituent Power as a new approach for International Law and Democracy’ Workshop on Constituent Power (The University of Liverpool, 28th June 2019
  • 'Weaving Communities: Reading Feminist Science Fiction for Global Constitutionalisation’ Who are “We the People”? Community beyond the state (Institute of Advanced Study, Durham University, 12 February 2019) (project with Aoife O’Donoghue)
  • 'Constituent Power and Referenda: Tales from Global Constitutionalisation’ The Role of Referendums in the UK Constitutional order (Durham, 31 January 2019)
  • ‘Attempts to democratise the UN: representation, participation, and NGOs’ UN and Global Order Programme (University of Reading, 26 April 2018)
  • ‘International perspectives’ Treaties, Brexit and the Constitution (Jesus College, Oxford University, 23 March 2018)
  • ‘Where is Magna Carta in Shakespeare’s King John’ Dark Side of Magna Carta (Newcastle Law School, July 2015)


Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

  • LAW3017: Public International Law (LLB) (Module Leader 2021- )

Previous teaching:

  • LAW1110/LAW1210: Legal Institutions and Methods (LLB) (Module Leader 2018- 2022)
  • LAW2163: Equity (LLB) (Seminars 2017-2019)
  • LAW8091: Legal Research: Theory and Method (PGT Seminar 2022)
  • LAW8559: Contemporary Problems of International Law and Dispute Settlement (LLM) (PGT seminar 2017-2018)


PhD Supervision

I welcome PhD applications within the fields of Global Constitutionalism, Public International Law and Constitutional Theory. 

Current PhD Supervisions

  • Environmental Constitutionalism in China
  • Membership of the European Union
  • Access to Fertility Treatment in Hong Kong

Completed PhD Supervisions

  • Dr Yuki Motoyoshi - The Legality of Military Operations against Non-State Actors, when the Territorial State is Unwilling or Unable to Suppress the Threat of Non-State Actors


Publications