ELRC Travel Grants
The European Law Research Center has inaugurated a modest program providing research and travel support to a small number of scholars in areas closely related to our ongoing work. Application is open to current Harvard Law School students.
The ELRC was established in 1991 to support research in the fields of European legal studies, comparative and international law. We have continually sought to provide an intellectual home at Harvard Law School for doctoral candidates, as well as J.D. and LL.M. students and faculty with interests in social theory, interdisciplinary scholarship and comparative legal study. The European Law Research Center encourages the development of progressive and alternative ideas about international law, society and political economy by supporting original, provocative and challenging intellectual work that might not otherwise find support from mainstream institutional resources, and which contributes to the emergence of new approaches to international law and global social justice.
Ideas do matter in global governance. Unfortunately, the range of ideas about law, politics and economy now dominant in the leading institutions of global society tend to reproduce, rather than challenge, the world’s most pressing economic and social hierarchies. We are convinced that unless intellectuals and other leaders find their critical impulses affirmed, their intellectual tools refined, and their capacity for bold and original thinking nurtured, new modes of social justice are unlikely to emerge.
The European Law Research Center awards small research and travel grants to students working on serious research and writing projects related to our core activities and projects. We hope to encourage more law students to focus on the life of the mind, on interdisciplinary reading, and on developing the intellectual background to understand and contribute to critical analyses of law and social justice.
Preference is given to current doctoral students. Travel grants are limited to students who have been invited to present their scholarly work at academic conferences. Travel grants are not available to students who have received other funding from HLS for the same trip. Generally, ELRC support does not exceed $500 toward the cost of travel for conferences in the US and $1000 for conferences outside the US.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Applicants should include a c.v., HLS transcript, a description of ongoing scholarship and writing, and a budget to Neal O'Connor (HA318A, noconnor@law.harvard.edu). Applicants for travel grants should include a copy of the invitation letter to present their work and a budget.
In 2008 we gave out ten travel grants:
Arnulf Becker Lorca (SJD - Chile) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008. Arnulf presented his paper entitled "Universal International Law: histories of imposition, circulation and appropriation 1850s-1900s."
Carlos Portugal Gouvêa (SJD Alum - Brazil) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008. Carlos presented his paper entitled "Beyond Formalization of Entitlements: Innovation in Land Redistribution in Latin America."
Ermal Frashari (SJD - Albania) received a grant to travel to London for the School of Oriental and African Studies Post-Graduate Student Colloquium held in January, 2008. The colloquium provide a forum for doctoral students and others working in the fields of international, transnational and comparative law, to present their research for open discussion.
Hila Shamir (SJD - Israel) received a grant to travel to Toronto for the Up Against Family Law Exceptionalism Conference held at the University of Toronto in February, 2008. Hila participated in a round table discussion on "The Family, the Market and the State: Modes of 'Public' Ordering."
Galit Sarfaty (HRP Visiting Fellow) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008. Galit gave a talk on "Why Culture Matters in International Institutions: The Marginality of Human Rights at the World Bank."
Alvaro Santos (SJD Alum - Mexico) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008. Alvaro gave a talk on "Three discourses of Labor Law in the Development Debate."
Vishaal Kishore (SJD - UK & Australia) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008. Vishaal chaired a panel on International Relations: Rethinking Established Paradigms. Vishaal also received a grant to travel to London for the School of Oriental and African Studies Post-Graduate Student Colloquium held in January, 2008. The colloquium provide a forum for doctoral students and others working in the fields of international, transnational and comparative law, to present their research for open discussion.
Hengameh Saberi (SJD - Iran) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008. Hengameh gave a talk on the Critique of Rational Choice Theories of International Relations.
Shunko Rojas (SJD - Argentina) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008. Shunko chaired a panel on Law and Development.
Lauren Coyle (JD Alum) received a grant to travel to Providence, Rhode Island for the The Watson Institute for International Studies Conference After Empire: Global Governance Today Conference, in June, 2008.
In 2007 we gave out nine travel grants:
Arnulf Becker Lorca (SJD - Chile) received a grant to travel to Oslo, Norway for the New International Law Conference, in March, 2007. Arnulf presented his paper entitled "International Lawyers at Ease with a Culterally, Politically, or Geographically Fragmented International Legal Order? Revisiting the Cosmopolitan Ideal in the History of Modern International Law."
Moria Paz (SJD - Israel) received a grant to travel to Oslo, Norway for the New International Law Conference, in March, 2007. Moria presented her paper on "A Non-territorial Ethnic Network and the Evolution of State Power: The Case of the Alliance Israelite Universelle."
Helena Alviar (SJD Alum - Columbia) received a grant travel to Harvard Law School for the “Up Against Family Law Exceptionalism” conference, in February 2007.
Stavros Gkantinis (SJD - Greece) received a grant to travel to Montreal for the European Union Studies Association Biennial International Conference, in May 2007.
Michael Halley (JD Alum) received a grant to travel to the United Kingdom for the BARS/NASSR Conference, in July, 2007.
Jeremy Perelman (SJD) received a grant to travel to Germany for the Law and Society Berlin Conference. His presentation focused on the theories and practices of social change advocacy in Africa
Shunko Rojas (SJD - Argentina) received a grant to travel to Berlin for the International Conference “Law and Society in the 21st Century: Transformations, Resistances, Futures” being held there from July 25th – 28th 2007.
Katherine Young (SJD - Australia) received a grant to travel to Germany for the Law and Society Berlin Conference. Katherine plans to present her paper "The Zakari Case: Using Rights as Footprints."
Amalia Amaya (SJD - Spain) received a grant to travel Krakow, Poland for the conference “Law and Legal Culture in the 21st Century: Diversity and Unity” being held there from August 1st – 6th 2007. Amalia will prsent a paper at the conference's workshop on "Reasoning about Legal Evidence."