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6-15-09 Contacts: Political science's Cunninghams receive Fulbright Awards AMES, Iowa – A married couple in Iowa State University’s Department of Political Science has received Fulbright Awards. Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham and David Cunningham, both assistant professors, will leave for Norway in late June for a year of research. The Fulbright Awards complement postdoctoral fellowships that both Cunninghams received from the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo, Norway. The Cunninghams will conduct separate research in Norway with their awards. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program, an international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States government. It provides awards through an annual competition to scholars and professionals to lecture or conduct research at institutions in more than 125 countries. Kathleen has two research goals for her trip: to complete a book manuscript on separatist conflict and a second project to research how leaders of rebellion are selected and the impact that has on the rebellion’s outcome. She said her research will entail what the international community has done to help settle these disputes, including which policies work in these situations. “The big payoff from my research will be to try to prevent this kind of conflict,” she said. David will research the content of peace settlements in civil wars and, secondly, the negotiation process in civil wars, particularly why some groups participate in negotiations and when negotiations are likely to occur. He will research group-level data on participation in civil war negotiations. “Civil wars are less likely to end in negotiated settlements than wars between countries,” he said. “It’s important to know why negotiation works in some cases and not others.” Their research will be conducted at the Center for the Study of Civil War, a research center within the International Peace Research Institute. David said it is one of the main centers for quantitative research on civil war in the world. “The main appeal is being able to work with and receive feedback from other researchers there who have experience in the topics we’re researching,” he said. Kathleen said it’s a popular location to conduct research on internal conflict, and it has a long history of cross-institutional collaboration. Both hope to publish at least one article from their research and plan to use the new information in the classroom when they return to Iowa State in fall 2010. They also anticipate contributing their findings to the new Center for the Study of Violence at Iowa State. -30- | ||
