Rabia Belt
Rabia Belt is an Associate Professor at Stanford Law School. She is a legal historian whose scholarship focuses on disability and citizenship. Her scholarship ranges from cultural analysis of disability in the media, to contemporary issues facing voters with disability, to the historical treatment of disabled Americans. Her book, “Disabling Democracy in America: Mental Incompetence, Citizenship, Suffrage, and the Law, 1819-1920” is forthcoming within the Studies in Legal History Series with Cambridge University Press. In 2015, the American Society of Legal History named her a Kathryn T. Preyer Scholar for her paper, “Ballots for Bullets? The Disenfranchisement of Civil War Veterans.” Professor Belt is also an advocate for people with disabilities. In 2016, President Obama named her as a Councilmember to the National Council on Disability, the independent federal agency that advises the President, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding policies and practices that affect people with disabilities. She is on the board of the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center [CREEC]. Additionally, she served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Disability Rights Bar Association. Prior to joining the Stanford Law faculty, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor and Research Academic. Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center. She received her JD from the University of Michigan Law School, her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Michigan, and her AB in Social Studies from Harvard College.