Current News
2006 graduate gets Fulbright to study justice in Guatemala
May 30, 2006
For immediate release - May 30, 2006 Contact: Eric Cárdenas (860) 439-2508; eric.cardenas@conncoll.edu
Connecticut College student awarded Fulbright to study transitional justice efforts in Guatemala
NEW LONDON, Conn. - A Connecticut College graduate whose undergraduate research focused on issues of human rights and the implementation of truth commission recommendations in South Africa and Peru has been awarded a Fulbright Research Grant to study transitional justice in Guatemala.
Holly Dranginis of Santa Rosa, Calif., who graduated on May 21 with a double major in international relations (with a concentration in human rights) and history, will work with the United Nations Office for the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Guatemala City while undertaking her research. She will also study political science at San Carlos University.
Using Guatemala´s 36-year civil war as a case study, Dranginis will spend 10 months studying the development of transitional justice efforts that attempt to address past conflicts. Her focus will be on the United Nation´s influence over peace-building and transitional justice initiatives, including reparations programs for victims of Guatemala´s conflict and prosecutions for perpetrators of gross violations of human rights.
Dranginis, who is fluent in Spanish, said that various countries - including Sierra Leone, Algeria and Sri Lanka - have attempted to use transitional justice practices to establish successful transitions to peace.
"The research is timely and relevant to the global community because it will elucidate important details of the Guatemalan case, and it has the potential to benefit transitions to democracy around the world," Dranginis said.
As Dranginis´ advisor, Tristan Anne Borer, professor of government, said she has "never known a student with a more single-minded focus on one particular topic than Holly.
"She is quickly becoming an expert in the field of transitional justice," Borer said.
Before she travels to Guatemala in the fall, Dranginis will spend the summer in Copenhagen, Denmark, as the recipient of a Humanity in Action Fellowship. There she will attend conferences and workshops that focus on human rights issues, including Holocaust resistance and genocide prevention.
A scholar of the Connecticut College´s Toor Cummings Center of International Studies and the Liberal Arts, Dranginis worked last summer at the National Coalition for Human Rights in Lima, Peru, to study human rights and transitional justice. She went on to receive a travel fellowship to attend the International Symposium on Mediation and Conflict Resolution in South Africa and conduct independent research on South African transitional justice.
In 2005, Dranginis represented Connecticut College as a delegate to the Student Conference on United States Affairs, held at West Point Military Academy. There she drafted policy recommendations for U.S. response to genocide in Darfur, Sudan, and engaged in debate and discussion on human rights, international law and the environment.
Also, in the spring of 2005, Dranginis worked as a researcher with the Truth and Justice Commission in Asuncion, Paraguay. In that position she traveled to interior rural zones to obtain victim testimony, conducted interviews with commissioners, lawyers, government figures, and students and attended meetings with representatives of Inter-American Court for Human Rights.
At Connecticut College, Dranginis was the president of the Connecticut College chapter of the Amnesty International Club and last year was the chair of the Government Department Student Advisory Board.
Ranked among the most selective private liberal arts colleges in the nation, Connecticut College enrolls 1,900 men and women from 42 states and 41 countries. The college is known for putting the liberal arts into action through interdisciplinary studies, international programs, funded internships, student-faculty research and service learning. Founded in 1911, the college operates under an 84-year-old honor code. The college is located at 270 Mohegan Ave, New London, about two hours by car from Boston and New York. The 750-acre campus is an arboretum overlooking Long Island Sound. For more information, visit www.connecticutcollege.edu.
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For more information contact: Amy Sullivan (860) 439-2526; amy.sullivan@conncoll.edu