UGA'S DEAN RUSK CENTER CREATES NEW LATIN AMERICAN LAW SCHOLARSHIP

Abstract

Monday, March 26, 2001

WRITER: Kathy R. Pharr, (706) 542-5172, pharr@arches.uga.edu

CONTACT: Associate Dean & Rusk Center Director Gabriel Wilner, (706) 542-5239

UGA'S DEAN RUSK CENTER CREATES NEW LATIN AMERICAN LAW SCHOLARSHIP

ATHENS, Ga. - The face of the United States, and of Georgia, is changing, as the Latino population becomes an ever more prominent minority group. The University of Georgia School of Law, in recognition of these changing demographics and in keeping with the strategic goal of increasing the number of foreign study and service initiatives, has established a new Rusk Center Latin American Legal Studies Scholarship Program. The scholarships are created and administered by the Dean Rusk Center - International, Graduate & Comparative Legal Studies and are supported by funding from the University of Georgia Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach.

In the upcoming pilot summer, two UGA law students will spend six weeks at the Universidad del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The law school already has a faculty exchange in place with the Argentine university, and the student component will augment it. The students will help coordinate an international conference on arbitration, develop proposals for further collaborations, and pursue independent research projects. The inaugural recipients are first-year law students Amy Neesen of Thomasville and Kevin Woolf of Alpharetta, both of whom serve as research assistants at the Dean Rusk Center and both of whom possess strong language skills as well as previous experience living and working among the Latin American community.

A total of $6,000 has been provided by UGA's Public Service and Outreach Office to fund the program. While this amount will not completely cover the students' stay in Argentina, it will help defray the cost of transportation, food and academic needs. The students are expected to live either with a host family or in a university setting.

"This program presents an exciting opportunity for the Dean Rusk Center and the University of Georgia," said Rusk Center Executive Director and Associate Dean Gabriel Wilner. "Due to UGA's geographic location, programs emanating from the university have the potential to touch the lives of millions of Spanish-speaking persons living in the southeast. Our Latin American Scholars will gain a unique perspective on the legal world through hands-on experience in a Latin American legal environment, enhance their own personal career opportunities, and enrich the classroom and local community through the sharing of their experiences."

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