‘On my way out … for real!’ : a conversation with Joseph H.H. Weiler on the occasion of his stepping down as EJIL editor in chief

Abstract

EJIL Editor in Chief Joseph H.H. Weiler has written numerous editorials in which he gives advice on academic practices. He titled them: ‘On My Way Out’. After 17 years of serving as EJIL Editor in Chief, he is now stepping down. In his words: ‘for real’. It is an occasion for an in-person conversation: many people know ‘Weiler’ by name or by initials ‘JHHW’; fewer people know him in person. Who is Joseph Halevi Horowitz Weiler? We meet in Cambridge, UK, on a cold December day. Joseph has just come off an overnight flight – as per usual, it seems. Shabbat will start that afternoon. But before it gets dark again, we spend over four hours in the café of Pembroke College, discussing his life as a son, student, scholar, teacher, practitioner, institution builder, father, grandfather and multiple other ‘differentities’. His work as EJIL Editor in Chief is the subject of an accompanying EJIL: Live!, the video series of EJIL.