Margaret Phillips, the chair of Paralegal Studies at Daemen University, will complete her Fulbright U.S. scholarship with the National Law University (NLU) Delhi and the Human Rights Law Network in India in June.
Phillips received the prestigious award to work on the “Paralegals and Equal Access to Justice” research and teaching project at NLU. This has included forming collaborations to promote access to justice, developing and teaching experimental and practice-based advanced legal skills courses, and piloting a Street Law class where scholars delivered interactive legal awareness sessions with high school students on cyberbullying and consumer rights.
Partnering with the Human Rights Law Network, Phillips worked with students from various law schools to host a legal skills workshop international expert on trauma informed interviewing.
Phillips said her experiences as a Fulbright Scholar will allow her to globalize the paralegal curriculum at Daemen and engage students in new ways.
“I am eager to incorporate a component of the Street Law model into our Paralegal Clinic class, as well as revising and updating the paralegal students to incorporate more experiential learning opportunities and material that promotes a greater geopolitical awareness,” Phillips added. “There is nothing like living and adapting in another culture to promote growth and learning. I have had such an amazing opportunity to experience legal education through the lens of another culture, as well as simply experiencing another culture.”
Only 400 Fulbright U.S. scholarships are awarded each year. Phillips is just one of five professors at Daemen to earn the distinction.
