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Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and International Affairs Karen E. Bravo is a well-known international scholar and an expert in the study of human trafficking. A Professor of Law and a Dean’s Fellow, she became the law school’s inaugural Associate Dean for International Affairs in 2011, and added Graduate Studies to her responsibilities in 2014. In addition to the list of tasks on her already busy schedule, she’s organizing the conference “Slavery Past, Present and Future” at Mansfield College, Oxford, UK. The call for presentations for the conference, slated for July 7-9, has been posted.

Professor Bravo took the time for an interview recently. The questions and her responses follow.

Where are you from originally?

Jamaica. I am a graduate of the University of the West Indies’ Mona campus in Jamaica.

What did you study as an undergraduate student, and what did you do upon graduation?

I studied languages (French, Spanish, German – both language and literature for Spanish and French), and Sociology & Anthropology. (Faculty of Arts, with some cross registrations in the Faculty of Social Studies.) I then migrated to New York, joining the rest of my family.

What led you to law school?

After lots of thought and debate, I realized that was the field which most interested me. (Some would say that I should have realized this during my undergraduate career, so that I would have studied at the Norman Manley School of Law in Jamaica.)

What drew you out of private practice and brought you to academia?

I was motivated by the desire to learn more and understand better the legal subjects that interest me. My LL.M. studies gave me the opportunity to re-engage with scholarship and concentrated learning.

What track did you pursue during your Master of Law studies?

I studied international trade law. I was particularly interested in the World Trade Organization’s bananas decision, which had a huge impact on the economies of Caribbean countries.

What is it about human trafficking that has made it the subject of your work?

I encountered human trafficking for the first time as part of my work in Armenia (I had deferred my LL.M. start time with New York University School of Law), and this had a huge impact on me both with respect to the individual human rights issues, as well as my understanding of the world we live in. When I returned to NYU for the LL.M., my previous interest in slavery, trade liberalization, and human trafficking provided new (to me) insights on the topics.

What can you tell us about the conference you’re planning at Oxford?

I am collaborating with inter-disciplinary.net,  http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/  based in Oxford, U.K., on their first global conference on slavery.  The call for papers went live at the end of 2014. The conference will be held at Mansfield College, Oxford, in July 2015. My co-project leader is Professor Kari Winter, Director of the Institute for Research and Education on Women and Gender and Professor of American Studies at the University of Buffalo.

Inter-disciplinary’s purpose is multidisciplinary dialog and exchanges to break down hierarchical barriers to meaningful communication and understanding. In light of the claims of the rise of a new form of slavery, the growing awareness of the claims, and the need for dialog across disciplinary and national boundaries, and by scholars and the community, the time seems right for the conference.