معرفی
Kathryn Libal is Professor of Social Work and Human Rights and Director of the Gladstein Family Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut, where she has taught since 2007. Her work bridges the School of Social Work and the Human Rights Institute, focusing on human rights implementation in the United States and Middle East contexts, with expertise in refugee resettlement, social welfare systems, and transnational advocacy.
Her research centers on the localization of human rights norms through social mobilization for food and housing rights, and examines how refugee resettlement voluntarism in eras of xenophobia creates new civic connections. She investigates political participation among volunteers, service providers, and refugees through collaborative projects with Scott Harding and S. Megan Berthold, emphasizing practical applications in community practice and policy advocacy.
Libal's publication trends reveal deep engagement with refugee/asylum seeker rights, food justice, housing rights, and anti-racist frameworks. Her work consistently connects grassroots activism with policy reform, highlighting tensions between universal human rights standards and U.S. exceptionalism while documenting innovative community-based solutions to structural inequalities.
No scientific awards were documented in the source materials.
While specific student advising details are unreported, her collaborative research with Harding and Berthold demonstrates active mentorship in refugee studies. Grant funding specifics are unmentioned, though her multi-year projects indicate sustained institutional and potentially external support for human rights implementation research.
Libal serves on the Journal of Human Rights and Social Work editorial board, acts as UConn's Scholars at Risk liaison, and sits on the Executive Committee of the Consortium of Higher Education Centers for Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights Studies, positioning her within key national human rights networks that shape research agendas and advocacy strategies.
