This April, the University of Delaware’s Institute for Global Studies has partnered with the Department of Political Science and International Relations to present the third annual Fulbright Spring Lecture Series.

All three lectures will feature UD experts in the field of foreign policy who will share their views on shifting U.S. relations in key areas of the world.

“Everyone acknowledges that 2017 has been a time of immense change,” noted Amy Greenwald Foley, associate director for global outreach, “but we may not understand all of the changes and constants in our relationships with the rest of the world. Through this spring’s lecture series, we hope to empower members of our community to be more informed, active participants in our national and international dialogue.”

Foreign policy in the Middle East

The series will kick off on Thursday, April 6, with a lecture on United States’ foreign policy in the Middle East, presented by Daniel Green, associate professor of political science and international relations.

Green’s talk will focus on reassessing American interests in the Middle East based on major global and regional changes of the last several years. Factors such as the rejection of the American liberal order, the effects of runaway global warming and shifts in internal political divisions and political developments will be highlighted in the lecture.

Green trained as an Africanist during his Ph.D. studies at Indiana University and received a Fulbright Scholar award to Ghana in 1989. He now specializes in international relations theory and history, and served as academic director of the UD Middle East Partnership Initiative Student Leaders Institute (MEPI) from 2005 to 2007. In addition, Green regularly teaches courses in global politics, transnational relations and America in the Middle East.

Green’s Fulbright Lecture is one of many events held this April in honor of UD’s Middle East Month. Attendees are invited to stay for a special reception immediately after this lecture.

U.S.-China relations

On Thursday, April 13, the series will continue with a talk on “U.S.-China Relations in a Changing East Asia” by Alice D. Ba, professor of political science and international relations.

According to Ba, “The United States and China have one of the more complex relationships in the world. In recent years and especially since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, the relationship between the two states has increasingly taken on the dynamics of rivalry.”

Ba will discuss this dynamic in the context of recent clashes surrounding issues including North Korea, Taiwan and the South China Sea. She’ll also share expectations of the impact on U.S.-China relations by the Trump presidency and other major influences.

Ba’s expertise ranges from the politics of regionalism and institutions in East Asia to Southeast Asia's relations with major powers. The author of (Re)Negotiating East and Southeast Asia: Region, Regionalism, and ASEAN (Stanford), she received a Fulbright grant in 2006 for work at Renmin University in Beijing, China, and, most recently, at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. She teaches courses on Southeast Asia's world relations and development, Chinese politics and foreign policy, and comparative regionalisms. Ba also served as director of Asian studies at UD from 2009-2014.

U.S.-Russian relations

The final lecture in this year’s series will take place on Wednesday, April 19, and will feature Stuart J. Kaufman, professor of political science and international relations.

In "Bromance or New Cold War? U.S.-Russian Relations during the Trump Administration," Kaufman will share timely and relevant insight into this complex, evolving relationship.

Kaufman, who received degrees from Harvard and the University of Michigan, specializes in international security affairs, diplomacy, U.S. foreign policy, ethnic conflict and Russian politics. He previously served as a member of the U.S. National Security Council staff and is the author of two prize-winning books: Nationalist Passions and Modern Hatreds: The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War; and co-editor of The Balance of Power in World History. A past winner of a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellowship, Kaufman received a Fulbright Scholar award in 2010 to serve as visiting professor at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna.

All lectures will take place at 5 p.m. in the Atrium of Harker Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory (ISE Lab). Registration is encouraged.

More Spring Fulbright programs for students

All UD graduate and undergraduate students interested in applying for a Fulbright U.S. Student Program award are encouraged to attend one of two information sessions to take place:

●      Thursday, April 13, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in 216 McDowell Hall, and

●      Wednesday, April 26, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. in 110 Memorial Hall.

Registration is encouraged, but not required. Students who cannot attend either information session but would like to learn more about applying for a  Fulbright U.S. Student Program award are invited to schedule an individual appointment with Katharine Kerrane.

About the Fulbright Initiative at UD

The Fulbright Program annually provides grants for research or teaching in one of over 140 countries throughout the world. Established by U.S. Sen. J. William Fulbright in 1946, the program seeks to foster international partnership and cultural exchange by funding research and teaching opportunities worldwide. More than 170 members of the University of Delaware community have received Fulbright Awards.

In addition, the University welcomes Fulbrighters from around the world for research and graduate study, with students hailing from Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Russia, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. This summer, the University will welcome students from around the world for a weeklong Fulbright Gateway Orientation administered by the Institute for Global Studies.

For more details on Fulbright at the University of Delaware, visit the IGS website or contact Lisa Chieffo, associate director for study abroad and UD’s Fulbright Program adviser.

The Fulbright Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by the Institute of International Education