Former International Student Returns to Juniata to Talk About Constitutions and the Middle East
(Posted April 19, 2018)
Huntingdon, Pa. -- On Monday, April 23 at 7:30 p.m., Antonio-Martin Porras-Gomez will discuss his research on constitutionalism in the Arab Spring. Porras-Gomez studied at Juniata in the 2006-2007 academic year as part of the partnership with Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Sevilla, Spain. His coming presentation will take place in Neff Lecture Hall, von Liebig Center for Science. It is free and open to the public.
Porras-Gomez is currently an assistant professor of political studies and public administration at the American University of Beirut. After his year studying at Juniata, he went on to double major in law and business administration at his home institution, Universidad Pablo de Olavide. He then earned his master’s degree in constitutional law and a doctorate in law.
One of Porras-Gomez’s former Juniata professors, Emil Nagengast, professor of politics and international studies at Juniata, explained that constitutionality is “the most important part of a government system. It is who leads the government.
“In the U.S. we take for granted that the constitution is the rule of the land where in other places, it’s individuals,” Nagengast concludes.
Porras-Gomez will be speaking about the goals and results of the Arab Spring movement as well as the individuals who led it.
“It is always exciting to have former students come back, especially one who is a leading scholar,” Nagengast says. “It helps current students to see, through concrete examples, where their Juniata education can take them.
--Written by Isabella Bennett ’20--
Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.