Education
B.A. (Honours), 1985, The University of the West Indies
J.D., 1997, Columbia University School of Law
LLM, 2004, New York University School of Law
Courses
Closely Held Business Organizations, International Business Transactions, International Law, International Trade, Seminar on Illicit International Markets
Bio
Karen E. Bravo was appointed Dean of the law school on July 1, 2020, as the result of a national search.
Dean Bravo joined the faculty in 2004, teaching international law, international trade law, and business courses. Her administrative appointments at the law school include Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Vice Dean (2018-2020).
A well-known international law scholar, and expert in the study of human trafficking, Dean Bravo’s research interests include labor liberalization, personhood, slavery, and human trafficking. She is the founder and leader of the Slavery Past, Present and Future project. The interdisciplinary initiative brings together scholars of slavery from a multiplicity of disciplines.
Dean Bravo co-proposed (2013) and co-led (2015-2018) IUPUI NextGeneration 2.0, the campus-wide leadership development and leadership succession-planning program dedicated to the preparation of women and underrepresented faculty and staff for positions of leadership and opportunities for advancement in higher education. She currently serves on the Advisory Board.
Dean Bravo was co-chair of the Teaching International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) from 2011 to 2014. She was elected to the ASIL Executive Council in 2013 and served a 3-year term (2013-2016), including appointments to the ASIL Nominating Committee (2014-2016), also chairing the Interest Group Committee. She served three consecutive one-year appointments to the ABA Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (2014-2017). She is a former Chair (2007-2009) of the American Association of Law Schools Committee on Recruitment and Retention of Minority Law Teachers and was a member of the planning committee for the 2008 Workshop for New Law Teachers and 2008 Workshop on Retention of Minority Law School Teachers.
Dean Bravo practiced corporate law with international law firms in New York and Massachusetts following her graduation from Columbia Law School. Her practice areas included venture capital financing, mergers and acquisitions and emerging and public company representation. She left her law firm practice to join the American Bar Association’s Central European and Eurasian Law Initiative (ABA/CEELI) in the Republic of Armenia, where she worked with domestic judiciary and advocates, and local and international NGOs on legal reform and education programs and strategies.
While at Columbia Law School, Dean Bravo was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar (1995-1997) and was a staff member and Articles Editor of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems. In 2004, she received the Jerome Lipper Prize for outstanding achievement in the field of international law from New York University School of Law. In 2008, she received an Indiana University Trustees’ Teaching Award.
Publications
(SSRN: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=396409)
Books and Chapters
- Looking Back to Lean Forward: An Essay (in LEGACIES OF SLAVERY AND CONTEMPORARY RESISTANCE, David W. Bulla, Karen E. Bravo, Judith N. Onwubiko & Kremena Dimitrova, eds. (Cambridge Scholars, 2023))
- Our Roles in Today’s Slaveries (in WHY SLAVERY ENDURES: ITS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE (David Bulla, ed., Cambridge Scholars, 2020))
- The Role of Past Slaveries in Contemporary Anti-Human Trafficking Discourse: Implications for Policy ( INTERNATIONAL HANDBOOK OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING (Rochelle L. Dalla and Donna Sabella, eds., Taylor & Francis, 2020))
- WHEN BUSINESS HARMS HUMAN RIGHTS: AFFECTED COMMUNITIES THAT ARE DYING TO BE HEARD (edited volume; co-edited with Jena Martin (WVU Law) and Tara Van Ho (Essex University), Anthem Press, 2020)
- THE BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS LANDSCAPE: MOVING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK (Jena Martin and Karen E. Bravo, eds., Oxford University Press)
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Book Chapter: Making “Slavery” Work in SLAVERY PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE (ebook proceedings of Slavery Past, Present and Future –the First Global Conference on Slavery, Catherine Armstrong and Jaya Priyadarshini, eds., IDN Press 2016)
- Business and Human Rights: A Call for Labor Liberalization in THE BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS LANDSCAPE: MOVING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK (Jena Martin and Karen E. Bravo, eds., Oxford University Press)
- Book Chapter: Black Female “Things” in International Law: A Meditation on Sartjie Baartman and Truganini in BLACK WOMEN AND INTERNATIONAL LAW: DELIBERATE INTERACTIONS, MOVEMENTS AND ACTIONS (Jeremy Levitt, ed., Oxford University Press)
- *Transborder Labor Liberalization and Social Contracts in Globalization and Sustainable Development in Africa (Toyin Falola and Bessie House-Soremekun, eds.) (2011)
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Legal Constructions of Personhood: Their Nexus with the Trafficking of Human Beings in Exploring Bullying: An Assault on Human Dignity from the 2nd Global Conference on Bullying in November 2010 (Carrie B. Fitzgerald and Laura M. Geraci, eds.) (2010 eBook) (ISBN: 978-1-84888-102-0) (2011 eBook))
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International Economic Law in U.S. Law Schools: Evaluating Its Pedagogy and Identifying Future Challenges
in International Economic Law - The State & Future of the Discipline” (Colin Picker, Douglas Arner & Isabella Bunn, editors) (Hart Publishing 2008)
- Balancing Indigenous Rights to Land and the Demands of Economic Development: Lessons from the United States and Australia in Indigenous Peoples, the Environment and Law (Lawrence Watters, ed., Carolina Academic Press 2004)
- Using (and Misusing?) Slavery (forthcoming in Slavery Past, Present and Future, David Wilkins & Polina Smiragina, IDN Press (hardcopy volume)
Law Review and Journal Articles
- Contemporary State Anti-“Slavery” Efforts: Dishonest and Ineffective (Northern Kentucky University Salmon K. Chase Law School Law Review, Vol. 46, No. 2; 2019-20)
- Black Interests in Slaveries (Valparaiso University Law Review, vol. 53, 2019)
- A Tribute to Hope Lewis, 46 Ga. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 135 (2017)
- Interrogating Everyperson’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries, 31 Temple Intl. and Comp. L. Rev. 25 (2017)
- Interrogating the State's Roles in Today's Slaveries, 25 Indiana Int’l & Comp. L. Rev. 9 (2014)
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The Role of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Contemporary Anti-Human Trafficking Discourse, 9 Seattle J. for Social Justice 555 (2011)
- On Making Persons: Legal Constructions of Personhood and Their Nexus with Human Trafficking, 31 Northern Illinois Law Review 467 (2011)
- Challenges to Caribbean Economic Sovereignty in A Globalizing World, 20 Mich. St. Intl L. Rev. 33 (2011)
- Free Labor! A Labor Liberalization Solution to Modern Trafficking in Humans, 18 Transnat'l L. & Contemp. Probs. 545 (2009)
- Follow the Money?: Does the International Fight Against Money Laundering Provide A Model for International Anti-Trafficking Efforts?, 6 U. St. Thomas L. J. 138 (2008)
- Regional Trade Agreements and Labor Liberalization: (Lost) Opportunities for Experimentation?, 28 St. Louis Pub. L. Rev. 71 (2008)
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Exploring the Analogy between Modern Trafficking in Humans and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, 25 B.U. Int'l L. J. 207 (2007) (lead article)
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Smoke, Mirrors and the Joker in the Pack? On Transitioning to Democracy and the Rule of Law in Post-Soviet Armenia, 29 Hous. J. Int'l L. 489 (2007) (lead article)
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CARICOM, the Myth of Sovereignty and Aspirational Economic Integration, 31 N.C. J Transnat'l L. & Contemp. Probs. 145 (2005)
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Balancing Indigenous Rights to Land and the Demands of Economic Development: Lessons from the United States and Australia, 30 Colum. J.L. & Soc. Probs. 529 (1997)
- Interrogating Everyperson’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries __ Temple International and Comparative Law Review __ (2016)
Book Reviews
- The Human Rights of Children in an Age of Mobility, 37 Human Rights Quarterly 787 (2015) (reviewing Jacqueline Bhabha, CHILD MIGRATION & HUMAN RIGHTS IN A GLOBAL AGE (2014)).
- Crisis Meets Reality: A Bold Proposal for Immigration Reform 61 SMU L. Rev. 191 (2008) (reviewing OPENING THE FLOODGATES: WHY AMERICA NEEDS TO RETHINK ITS BORDERS AND IMMIGRATION LAWS, by KEVIN R. JOHNSON, New York: New York University Press, Critical America Series, 2007) (co-authored)
Other Publications
Electronic Publications/Products
Presentations
- Justice Robert D. Rucker Lecture, Valparaiso University School of Law, Valparaiso, IN; Topic: Black Interests in Today’s Slaveries
- Fourth Global Conference: Slavery Past, Present and Future, University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria, June 16-18, 2019 (Organizer and Steering Committee Chair)
Panel: Legacies II
Topic: Slavery’s Legacy of Unknowing: On (Not) Finding My Ancestors
- Third Global Conference: Slavery Past, Present and Future, Indiana University Europe Gateway, Berlin, Germany, July 9-11, 2018 (Organizer and Host)
Panel: Slavery’s Legacies I
Topic: Black Interests in Today’s Slaveries
- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Expert Group Meeting on Teaching Human Trafficking in Tertiary Education, Education for Justice (E4J) Initiative, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar, May, 8-10, 2018
Moderator: Module 1 (Definition of Human Trafficking) & Teacher of Mock Class
- The Global Impact of the African-American Struggle, Indiana University Maurer School of Law, Bloomington, IN, February 20, 2018
Topic: African-American Struggles for Freedom: Impact on Aboriginal Australia
- International Conference on “New Paradigms of Law?”, National Cheng-chi University, Taipei, Taiwan, December 4-5, 2017
Topic: Contemporary State Anti-“Slavery” Efforts: Dishonest and Ineffective
- Roundtable Presenter, Association for the Study of Higher Education 42nd Annual Conference, Houston, TX, November 8 – 11, 2017
Topic: Addressing Inequity in Higher Education: Evaluation of Leadership Development for Women and Racially and Ethnically Marginalized Faculty and Staff
- The Responsibility of Home States, the European Union, and International Organizations in the Area of Business and Human Rights and Testimonies from Communities and Individuals Impacted by Business Activities, Department of Law, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, October 2-3, 2017
Co-Organizer and Moderator: Discussion of Victim Groups
- Symposium: Victims of Human Trafficking: A Multidisciplinary Problematization of a Category, Institute of Advanced Studies, University College London, London, UK, June 7, 2017
Topic: Contemporary State Anti-“Slavery” Efforts: Dishonest and Ineffective
- IntLawGrrls! 10th Birthday Conference, Dean Rusk International Law Center, University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, GA, March 2-3, 2017,
Panel: Human Rights
Topic: Interrogating Everyperson’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries
- Symposium: A Festschrift in Honor of Professor Henry J. Richardson III, Temple International and Comparative Law Review, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Philadelphia, PA, October 7, 2016
Panel: Human Security and International/Transnational Law
Topic: Interrogating Everyperson’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries
- Second Global Conference: Slavery Past, Present and Future, Hotel Lindner, Prague, Czech Republic, May 2-4, 2016 (Project Leader & Organizer)
Panel: Slaveries: Roles, Responsibilities, Resistance
Topic: Everyperson’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries
- International Association of Defense Counsel 2016 Midyear Meeting, Pebble Beach, California, February 20-25, 2016
Topic: Human Trafficking in the 21st Century: Conceptual Framework and Responses
- Faculty Book Talk, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, Indiana, December 3, 2015, The Business and Human Rights Landscape
- Fourth Annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, November 16-18, 2015
Book Launch Roundtable Session - Business and Human Rights at a Crossroads? Moving Forward, Looking Back (launch of co-edited volume, The Business and Human Rights Landscape)
- American Sociological Association 2015 Annual Meeting: Sexualities in the Social World, Chicago, Illinois, August 22-25, 2015
Panel: Can Comparative Historical Sociology Save the World – Modern Slavery, Topic: Interrogating the State’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries
- First Global Conference: Slavery Past, Present and Future, Mansfield College, Oxford University, United Kingdom, July 7-9, 2015
Panel: What is Slavery
Topic: Making “Slavery” Work
- Faculty Colloquium, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, March 25, 2015
Topic: The Contemporary Market in Humans
- Eighth Annual Lutie A. Lytle Black Female Law Faculty Workshop, Wisconsin University Law School, June 26-29, 2014
Topic: The State’s Role in Today’s Slaveries
- USEK (Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Lebanon, May 9, 2014,
25th Anniversary of the Law Faculty, The Future of Legal Education
Topic: Envisioning and Preparing the 21st and 22nd Century Lawyer
- British Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences, March 27 & 28, 2014, The British Academy, Carlton Terrace, London, UK, Slaveries Old and New: The Meaning of Freedom
Topic: Interrogating the State’s Role in Today’s Slaveries
- Indiana University International & Comparative Law Review Symposium, February 21, 2014, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Indianapolis, Indiana, Moving to Opportunity: Examining the Risks and Rewards of Economic Migration
Moderator & Panelist: “Trafficking and Slavery”; “Interrogating the State’s Roles in Today’s Slaveries”
- Northeast People of Color (NEPOC) 2013 Legal Scholarship Conference December 5-7, 2013, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Defining Vice: Evolving Standards of Morality, Law and Governance
Roundtable Panelist: Marginalization in the Global Struggle Against Human Trafficking
- International Law Weekend, Fordham University School of Law, Oct. 25-27, 2012, Ideas, Institutions, and Interests – Dynamics of Change in International Law
Panelist: Teaching International Law: Principles for Framing a Survey Course
- Sixth Annual Lutie A. Lytle Black Female Law Faculty Workshop, Suffolk University Law School, June 28-31, 2012
Topic: Law and Biology;
- Faculty Forum, Loyola University New Orleans College of Law, April 19, 2012
Topic: On the Construction of Female Personhood and the Obstruction of Gender Equality
- American Society of International Law 106th Annual Meeting, March 28-31, 2012, Washington, D.C., Confronting Complexity
Panel Moderator: Teaching International Law while Confronting Current Events: Balancing Past and Present
- Symposium, Which Way Home, Law Review, Northern Illinois University College of Law, Dekalb, Illinois
Panel: Policy Implications
Topic: Legal Constructions of Personhood: Their Nexus with the Trafficking of Human Beings
- Lecture (co-sponsored by the University at Buffalo (SUNY) Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, The Feminist Research Alliance, and the Humanities Institute): The Role of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Contemporary Anti-Trafficking Discourse, The Baldy Center, the University at Buffalo (SUNY)Law School, March 10, 2011
- Challenges to Caribbean Sovereignty in a Globalizing World, Panel: The Surrender of Economic Sovereignty, Michigan State University College of Law, Journal of International Law Symposium: Sovereignty in Today’s World, Lansing, Michigan, February 17-18, 2011
- Second Global Conference: Bullying & the Abuse of PowerPanel: Bullying and Personhood
Topic: Legal Constructions of Personhood: Their Nexus with the Trafficking of Human Beings
Michna Palace, Prague, Czech Republic, November 8 – 10, 2010
- "Black Female 'Things' in International Law: A Meditation on Saartjie Baartman and Truganini," (Panel: Towards and International Law of Black Women: New Theory, New Praxis) AND "When Humanity is Not Enough: On the Legal Construction of Natural, Juridical and Quasi-Persons," Third Annual People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference: Our Country, Our World in a “Post-Racial” Era, Seton Hall Law School, Newark, New Jersey, September 9 – 12, 2010
- "The Nature of Black Female 'Things;' The Nature of Choice: A Meditation on Sartjie Baartman and Truganini"
Towards an International Law of Black Women: New Theory, New Praxis, Florida A&M University College of Law, March 4, 2010
- "Indigenous People and Human Trafficking in the Caribbean" Caribbean Studies Association XXXIV Annual Conference, Centering the Caribbean in Caribbean Studies, Kingston, Jamaica, June 1-5, 2009 (Panel: Human Rights in the Caribbean)
- "Re-Framing and Re-Building Domestic And Global Social Contracts as a Path to Kenyan Reconciliation" Moi University – Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis International Symposium, Towards Kenyan National Dialogue, Healing and Reconciliation: Reform Issues in a Modern African State, Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya, May 13 – 15, 2009
- Conference, Junior International Law Scholars Association, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 13, 2009,
Topic: Transborder Labor Liberalization: A Path to enforcement of the Global Social Contract for Labor?
- Workshop, Work, Employment and Industrial Relations in the New Social Contract, The Foundation for Law, Justice and Society in association with the Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford, Rhodes House, Oxford, United Kingdom, October 30–31, 2008; Topic: Transborder Labor Liberalization: A Path to Enforcement of the Global Social Contract for Labor?
- Conference, Commemorating 1808: Fighting for the Right to Dream - 200th Anniversary of the Federal Prohibition on Importing Slaves, University of Toledo College of Law, Toledo, Ohio, October 24-25, 2008, Toledo, Ohio
Topic: Exploring the Analogy between Modern Trafficking in Humans and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
- Faculty Forum, Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas, Texas, October 22, 2008
Topic: Free Labor! A Labor Liberalization Solution to Modern Trafficking in Humans
- Symposium, Human Trafficking: Global and National Responses to the Cries for Freedom, University of St. Thomas Law Journal, September 25, 2008, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Panel: Global Dynamics of Human Trafficking
Topic: Follow the Money?: Does the International Fight Against Money Laundering Provide A Model for the International Fight Against Human Trafficking?
- Law and Society Association and Canadian Law and Society Association 2008 Joint Meeting, May 29-June 1, 2008, Montreal, Canada
Panel: International Trade Regimes: Deconstructing Their Effects on Domestic Policy,
Topic: Regional Trade Agreements and Labor Liberalization: (Lost) Opportunities for Experimentation?
- American Society of International Law 102nd Annual Meeting, April 9-12, 2008, Washington, D.C.
Panel: New Voices: The Role of International Legal Institutions in Norm Development,
Topic: Toward a Labor Liberalization Solution to Modern Trafficking in Humans
- The Changing Tide of Trade: The Social, Political and Environmental Implications of Regional Trade Agreements, St. Louis University School of Law Public Review Symposium, St. Louis Missouri, April 4, 2008: “Regional Trade Agreements and Labor Liberalization: (Lost) Opportunities for Experimentation?”
- Junior Faculty Regional Workshop, Washington University in St. Louis School of Law – St. Louis, Missouri, February 26, 2008: "Free Labor!? Toward a Labor Liberalization Solution to the Modern Traffic in Humans"
- Junior Faculty Exchange, Case Western Reserve School of Law – Cleveland, Ohio, February 8, 2008
Presentation: Toward a Labor Liberalization Solution to the Modern Traffic in Humans
- Panelist, New Voices in Human Rights: Toward a Labor Liberalization Solution to the Modern Traffic in Humans, Association of American Law Schools Annual Meeting, January 2-6, 2008, New York, New York
- Moderator and Panelist: The Second Annual Protection Project Symposium: “Incorporating Trafficking in Persons in Human Rights Curricula in Universities in the United States and Abroad,” Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, November 27, 2007
- Moderator and Panelist: “Seeing Through Other Eyes: Teaching and Experiencing Diversity in an Interdisciplinary Manner in the Higher Education Curriculum” at LatCrit XII, at Miami, Florida, October 4-6, 2007.
- NEPOC (Northeast People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference) 2007, September 14-15, 2007, The Southern New England School of Law, North Dartmouth, Massachusetts
Topic: Exploring the Analogy between Modern Trafficking in Humans and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade
- American Association of Law Schools/American Society of International Law Joint Mid-Year Meeting (“What is Wrong with the Way We Teach International Law”), June 17-20, 2007, Vancouver, Canada
Works in Progress Human Rights Panel
Topic: Exploring the Analogy between the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Modern Traffic in Humans
- American Society of International Law 101st Annual Meeting, March 28-31, 2007, Washington, D.C.
Panel: International Economic Law Research, Teaching & Practice: Report of the International Economic Law Interest Group Bretton Woods Conference
Topic: Teaching International Economic Law in U.S. Law Schools
- 6th Amaker Public Interest Law & Social Justice Retreat, Bradford Woods, Indiana, February 25, 2007. Panel: Holistic Counseling and Advocacy for the Immigrant Community & International Human Rights & Gender Issues Topic: Modern Trafficking in Humans: Interrogating the Women's Rights Framework
- LatCrit XI, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, October 6-8, 2006. Presented paper: "Modern Trafficking in Humans and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade: Exploration of an Analogy"
- Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington, April 4, 2006. Presented Paper: "Smoke, Mirrors and the Joker in the Pack? On Transitioning to Democracy and the Rule of Law in Armenia"
- Edward C. Moore Symposium 2006, Indiana University Purdue Univeristy Indianapolis, February 24, 3006. topic: "Seeing Through Other Eyes: Teaching Diversity in the Upper Level Law School Curriculum"
- Mid-Atlantic People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, American University Washington College of Law, January 27-28, 2006: Rule of Law and Democracy Transition in Post-Soviet Armenia
Other Activities
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Co-Rapporteur - Workshop on the Future of Teaching International Economic Law, 2006 Annual Conference of the American Society of International Law's Interest Group on International Economic Law, Mount Washington Resort, New Hampshire, Nov. 9 - 11, 2006.
Co-Rapporteur - Workshop on the Future of Teaching International Economic Law, 2006 Annual Conference of the American Society of International Law's Interest Group on International Economic Law, Mount Washington Resort, New Hampshire, Nov. 9 - 11, 2006.
- Central Eurasian Studies Society 2006 Annual Conference, Univeristy of Michigan, September 28 - October 1, 2006.
- Edward C. Moore Symposium 2005, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, February 25, 2005
Topic: "Audio-visual and Role-Playing Methodologies in the Law School Classroom"
- 4th Annual Amaker Public Interest Law Retreat, Bradford Woods, Indiana, February 25 – 27, 2005
Panel: Trafficking in Persons Around the World: The Dark Side of International Trade
Topic: Armenia: Dilemma of a Source (and Transit) Country
*Refereed