Dr. Rachana Kaushal is a Professor in the Department of Political Science at Aligarh Muslim University, India with an experience of teaching and research of more than twenty years. She specializes in Human Rights, holding her Ph.D on the topic, Terrorism and Violation of Human Rights: A Case Study of Punjab?. She possesses University Gold medal in M.A. (Political Science) and has qualified UGC NET for lectureship(1997) and State Level Eligibility Test for Lectureship (1997)conducted by Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra , Haryana, recognized by UGC. She was awarded FORD Foundation Fellowship to attend workshop of RCSS in Sri Lanka in 2001; FORD Foundation Fellowship to attend workshop at National Law School University of India Bangalore in 2003; NIPPON Foundation Fellowship to participate in prestigious Salzburg Seminar in Austria in 2006; participated in International Human Rights Conference in Germany (Berlin) in 2010. She was awarded U.S State Department Fellowship to attend six weeks summer workshop on religious pluralism in the University of California(Santa Barbara)in June 2013. She has been actively involved in research, having published papers in a number of reputed national and international journals like International Journal of Sustainable Development (Canada); Skepsis (Greece)etc. She has been working on a project funded by ICSSR titled Multiculturalism and claims of minorities within minority: A case study of Shias in Lucknow. She has supervised 1M.Phil dissertations and 3 Phd degrees. She has delivered talks and lectures and chaired academic sessions at various National and International Seminars, Conferences, Workshops, Refresher Courses and Summer Schools, etc. Presently she is involved in upgrading the Human Rights course in the Department and also engaged in research focused on issues like women empowerment, consequences of the upsurge of the right wing forces around the world, etc.