Raquel Aldana, associate professor of law at UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2005-2006 academic year, according to the United States Department of State and the William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Aldana is one of approximately 850 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad to some 150 countries for the 2005-2006 academic year. Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the program's purpose is to build mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other countries.
From January to April 2006, Aldana will teach courses on social, economic and cultural rights at Rafael Landivar University in Guatemala City, Guatemala, and conduct research on victim standing in the prosecutorial process in that country.
As a Guatemalan herself, Aldana was initially drawn to the study of that country's human rights abuses for personal reasons, but the topic has since become the foundation of her research agenda as an academic.
"What is most exciting about the Fulbright placement is that it will allow me to contribute, at least in some small way, more directly to the reform of social justice in Guatemala through my teaching, research, and involvement in civil society," said Aldana. "Ultimately, I hope to inspire and prepare law students there to become competent advocates for social justice in Guatemala."
Aldana earned her J.D. degree in 1997 from Harvard Law School, where she served as articles editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Prior to becoming an academic, Aldana represented victims of gross human rights violations in Latin America as a lawyer with the Center for Justice and International Law. Before coming to UNLV, she taught a seminar in human rights at the University of Baltimore School of Law and was an associate at the law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. Aldana currently teaches Immigration Law, Criminal Procedure, International Human Rights, and International Public Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.
The Fulbright Program is America's flagship international educational exchange activity. Over its 59 years of existence, thousands of U.S. faculty and professionals have studied, taught or conducted research abroad, and thousands of their counterparts have engaged in similar activities in the United States.
Recipients of Fulbright Scholar awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement and because they have demonstrated extraordinary leadership potential in their fields. Aldana is the tenth UNLV faculty member to receive a Fulbright scholarship.
