معرفی
Charles R. DiSalvo is the Woodrow A. Potesta Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law since 1989. He specializes in civil disobedience, legal history, and Gandhi's legal philosophy. Educated at St. John Fisher College (B.A., History), Claremont Graduate School (M.A., East Asian Studies), and University of Southern California (J.D.), he began his career with a Reginald Heber Smith Community Lawyer Fellowship. His teaching spans civil procedure, trial advocacy, and a unique course on civil disobedience—one of the few in U.S. law schools. He has won numerous teaching awards, including six Professor of the Year titles and the Roscoe Pound Foundation’s Trial Advocacy Excellence Award.
DiSalvo’s research focuses on Mohandas Gandhi’s legal career in South Africa, arguing that failures in the South African legal system drove Gandhi toward civil disobedience. His landmark book M.K. Gandhi, Attorney at Law examines this transition. He has also written extensively on modern civil disobedience, including climate change activism and nonviolent transitions to democracy. His work bridges legal theory, spirituality, and social justice, with publications in law reviews and international conferences.
Co-founder of the West Virginia Fund for Law in the Public Interest, DiSalvo has represented civil rights activists in courts and lectured globally. His awards include the PROSE Award for his Gandhi biography and recognition for scholarship and teaching excellence. Beyond academia, he contributed to medical law critiques and Appalachian poverty law advocacy through the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund.
