PhD, LLM Assistant Professor in Technology Law (STeP)
I am a Colombian lawyer currently working as an Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen. I am fascinated by emerging technologies and how they affect consumers and the market in general. As an innovative professor who combines approaches in law and technology, I have created several interdisciplinary classes across different departments.
My main interests are: Consumer Rights, Digital Rights, Data Protection, Internet Law, and Artificial Intelligence.
This teaching portfolio serves three primary purposes: (1) as a developmental tool for self-reflection and enhancing teaching practices, (2) as an evaluative product and (3) as a platform to share developed practices and materials for colleagues to download, adapt, and integrate into their own courses.
Academic publications from 2013-2022
Academic publications from 2022 to present
Assistant Professor at the University of Groningen and member of the Security, Technology & e-Privacy research group (STeP). I am a lawyer and graduated from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia. During my time there, I served as the Director of the Study Group on Internet, Electronic Commerce, and Telecommunications (GECTI). This study group aims to promote multidisciplinary work and establish a bridge between academia and society, to encourage reflection and action on issues related to the Internet, the Information Society, and related topics.
By 2013, after my graduation, my interests were very clear. I was seeking training in issues related to law and technology. For this reason, I successfully completed the Master's in Law and Technology at the University of Tilburg in The Netherlands. There, not only did I acquire transnational technical and legal knowledge, but it also became a life experience that allowed me to pursue my second passion, which is cooking. Between studying and classes, it was impossible to have a balanced diet, so I decided to venture into cooking easy and nutritious recipes every day. I didn't know it at the time, but this would become a passion that helped me overcome the stress and loneliness of being far away from home.
Finally, by 2015, it became clear to me that my career path was to conduct social impact research with an emphasis on technology. I was looking to develop these skills while also pursuing my second passion. For these reasons, I decided to start my PhD in Law and Society at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy. It was a full-life experience, where I learned new languages and about diverse cultures. I founded the PhD International Scholar Networking to help and guide foreign students with life in Italy and legal procedures within the city. At the end of my PhD, cum laude, the most valuable thing that this experience brought to me was an expanded horizon and the understanding that work is much more enjoyable when you help other people.
I began working as an Assistant Professor at Los Andes University in January 2019. Since then, I have had the opportunity to teach a variety of topics to undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional students. These topics have ranged from the impact of technology on law to privacy impact analysis.
By 2019, I was responsible for teaching courses such as Fundamentals of Law for Non-Lawyers and Securities Law. Although these courses could be considered "traditional", they presented a constant challenge in terms of teaching methodology. I sought to incorporate the practice of law in a modern and digital world, while still maintaining a strong foundation in legal theory.
On one hand, the Securities course has been dismissed for many years in Colombian law schools, as it is considered an "expendable class". Some argue that its topics are outdated and do not apply to today's legal reality. However, my knowledge and experience in new technologies led me to transforming the class, restructuring it and putting my personal stamp on it. I had the opportunity to modify the classical teaching of securities in Colombia, creating a course on financial and technological education that not only covers current topics but also challenges classical theories of law.
In addition, I started a new project that includes an optional class called Law & Tech, which is an elective for students. This course deals with cutting-edge technology topics and is constantly being transformed. Since I started teaching at Los Andes University, I have had the opportunity to participate in Life-long Education courses with other faculties, such as Engineering and Business Administration. These courses have a different audience and demand a different methodology that must be adapted to professionals with specific needs according to their organizations.