20 años 1990-2010 Asociación J. William Fulbright Spanish Fulbrigh Alumni Association
Cristóbal Ramón, born in 1983 in Pasadena, California, USA, studied at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA, where he majored in Sociology. After working as a paralegal in the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice of the Government of the United States of America in Washington, DC., Cristobal received a Fulbright grant to study the evolution of the rights of immigrants in the jurisprudence of the Spanish Constitutional Court at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Currently, Cristobal is a paralegal at the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission of the Government of the United States of America in Washington, DC.
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Individuos implicados (and the delicious tortilla) Cris Ramón My name is Cristobal Ramón and I studied at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid as a Fulbright Scholar from September 2008 to July 2009. I currently work as a paralegal with the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission of the Government of the United States of America in Washington, DC. When I look back at my time in Madrid, I realize that the chance to conduct research on a Fulbright grant in has been one of the most formative experiences in my personal and professional development. One of the reasons that my Fulbright experience was an overwhelmingly positive experience was due to my relationship with the Asociación de J.W. Fulbright. On an intellectual level, the Asociación’s monthly tertulias, which featured speakers such as Juan Fernando Lopez Aguilar, Cabeza de lista del PSOE for last June’s European Elections as well as radio personality and Fulbright alumnus Guillermo Fesser, were an excellent way to remain up to date with the latest developments in Spanish politics, business, and cultural affairs. Furthermore, the tradition of dining with the members of the association and the guest speaker after the event gave me the wonderful opportunity to listen and participate in an intimate discussion over dinner that covered a wide variety of topics related to current events in Spain. Given that most of my research was solitary in nature, the tertulias and dinner conversations strengthened my understanding of Spanish current events. Further, the Asociación also helped me create networks of professional and academic contacts who contributed to my research in Spain. This was especially the case when I was planning a conference on American perspectives on immigration to Spain at the Casa de América. In addition to coming to the seminar, members of the Asociación also helped me get in touch with respected academics who studied immigration issues in Spain in order to publicize the conference to the academic community in Madrid and draw individuals whose presence would bolster the event’s academic prestige. In my opinion, the assistance that I received from the Asociación made the seminar a major success and bolstered the reputation of the Fulbright Program in the academic community in Madrid. Finally, the chance to interact with a community of intelligent, warm, and engaging individuals provided me with wonder-