Although she has on campus only a year, Anabella Espana-Najera has left her mark. A Campbell Fellow in the government department, she is originally from Guatemala, but moved to Vancouver, Canada, at age 10. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of British Columbia.

Espana-Najera attended graduate school at Notre Dame, from which she applied for and won a St. Lawrence Jeffrey Campbell Fellowship. Named for the University’s first known African-American graduate, it is intended to assist members of minority populations who want to enter the scholarly professions. 

“The fellowship has been a great opportunity,” Espana-Najera says.  “Thanks to my year here, I have been able to finish work on my dissertation, and have had the chance to teach two courses, both of which have been great experiences.” She taught Contemporary Latin American Politics, with a concentration on the new democracies of the region, and a course on U.S.- Latin American relations.

Espana-Najera studies comparative politics and says she is particularly interested in the politics of Latin America. “I find the region vastly interesting with numerous outstanding and important questions that as academics we can try to address,” Espana-Najera says.  “Ideally, our findings will ultimately have a positive impact on the politics of the region.” 

“I have been really enjoying the students,” Espana-Najera says.  “The government department has some very smart students who are engaged in classes and ask good questions.  The faculty in the department has also been wonderful and very supportive.”                                             

--Allie Friedman ’09