UA Professor Awarded Fulbright, Headed to Colombia for Research on Presidential Book

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s Dr. Harvey Kline is headed to Colombia, courtesy of the U.S. Fulbright Scholars Program, where he will teach a class and conduct research for an upcoming book on that strife-filled country’s president.

The May trip will mark the 11th time in 40 years that Kline, professor of political science at UA, has traveled to Colombia. He will live in the country’s capitol city, Bogota´, along with 7 million other residents. He will teach at Universidad de los Andes and conduct research for an upcoming book he is authoring on Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.

“This is the third book I’ve written on different presidents who have attempted to bring stability and peace to Colombia through negotiating with guerrilla and paramilitary groups,” Kline said.

Uribe was elected after running on a ‘get-tough’ platform and has shown little interest in negotiating with the guerrillas who are warring with paramilitary forces in that country, Kline said.

“Uribe’s policy is to negotiate only with groups that have declared ceasefires. Some paramilitary groups have done that; guerrillas have not. The previous president tried the honey approach, and it didn’t work,” Kline said.

Fluent in Spanish, Kline will conduct classroom lectures throughout his two-month stint at Universidad de los Andes in his students’ native language. Kline has a special interest in regions that are troubled politically, including Haiti, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Colombia.

Kline is the fifth UA representative to be selected by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars for the 2003-2004 U.S. Fulbright Scholars Program.

Dr. Subha Chakraborti, professor in the department of information systems, statistics and management science in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration; Dr. Richard Lomax, professor in the department of educational studies in psychology, research methodology and counseling in the College of Education, and Norman Singer, Charles O. Stokes Professor of Law in the School of Law, were earlier selected for the traditional Fulbright Scholar Program.

Dr. Marilyn Emplaincourt, associate director of Capstone International academic programs, was selected for the Fulbright International Education Administrators Program.

The U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.