Professor Aparna Polavarapu joined the William S. Boyd School of Law in 2025 as a Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution. Her work reflects a deep commitment to justice-centered legal education, interdisciplinary scholarship, and community collaboration. Her research explores the interplay between human rights, state authority, and community-based legal systems, with publications in leading law journals and contributions to edited volumes. Currently, her primary focus is on the possibility of using sustainable, community justice mechanisms as rights-based approaches to addressing harm.

 

Outside of legal scholarship, Professor Polavarapu has also made significant contributions in a variety of media. She has authored, edited, or otherwise contributed to expert reports for institutions such as the UN Foundation and the Center for Reproductive Rights. More recently, as part of her restorative justice work, she has directed and produced a film that features formerly incarcerated storytellers. She is also a frequent speaker on both community-level justice mechanisms and the global dimensions of justice. 

Prior to joining Boyd Law, Professor Polavarapu served as a Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law. While there, she founded the South Carolina Restorative Justice Initiative, through which she oversaw the development of restorative justice education and programming, supported community circles, and worked with community members seeking to develop their own restorative practices. She also served as a commissioner on the South Carolina Access to Justice Commission. She holds an LL.M. and J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, an M.A. in international affairs from The Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.