Biography and Research Interests
Howard Lehman received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 1987 and has been teaching at the University of Utah since 1986.
His initial research interests focused on international debt and development problems in Africa and Latin America. He did so by examining the linkages between different levels of analysis, namely between state and international actors. A second research project focused on the role of traditional authorities and demarcation policies in recent municipal elections in South Africa. His most recent research project examines Japan's foreign aid policy to Africa. Among other grants and fellowships, he has received two Fulbright Lectureship awards; the first was in Slovakia in 1994-5 at Comenius University and the most recent was in Japan at Kyushu University in 2002-3. The Fulbright awards brought about his invitation to serve as member on the executive board of the Utah chapter of the National Fulbright Program.
In 2006, Professor Lehman was invited to be a Visiting Scholar at Kobe University. As a result of an international competition, he also was selected to present his most recent project on Japanese aid to Africa at a UN-sponsored conference in Helsinki in June 2006. The conference director chose his paper to be included in an edited book.
His publications include articles on the political economy of South Africa, South African municipal elections, foreign debt negotiations in the developing world, comparative environmental policy, and African interest groups. They have appeared in World Politics, Political Science Quarterly, African Studies Review, Policy Studies Review and other journals. His book, entitled Indebted Development: Strategic Bargaining and Economic Adjustment in the Third World, was published in 1993. More recently, he has published an article on Japan's foreign aid policy to Africa which appeared in Pacific Affairs in 2005. He also is co-editing a book entitled, Japan and Africa: Globalization and Foreign Aid in the 21st Century.
Professor Lehman has become a leading public speaker in Utah on African affairs. He has been invited to speak by other campuses, churches, and local organizations. A recent example of his community involvement is his role as a consulting expert to a New York City-based playwright, J.T. Rodgers, on his new play entitled The Overwhelming. This play places an American political scientist in Rwanda on the brink of genocide in early 1994. The main character, Jack, begins a fervent search for his close and missing friend while his wife and teenage son find trouble of their own. As Jack involves himself in the local politics, he discovers a pattern of brutality and beliefs that jeopardizes the lives of everyone around him. The play's world premier occurred at the National Theater of England in May 2006. For more information and reviews, click here
Teaching Interests
Undergraduate Classes:
Introduction to International Politics
International Politics of Africa
Theories of International Relations
International Political Economy
Senior Seminar: Challenges of Globalization
Graduate Classes:
Field Seminar in International Relations
International Relations Research Design Workshop
International Relations Advanced Seminar
His teaching has brought him recognition as the recipient of the Faculty Honorary Award in 1994 and as a semi-finalist for the College of Social and Behavioral Science Superior Teaching award in 1997.