Lina Kreidie, a political science alumna and former international studies lecturer, has been selected as a Fulbright Scholar for Jordan during the 2017-2018 academic year. Created in honor of the late Senator Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program aims to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries and is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government.

Kreidie received her Ph.D. in political science from UCI in 2000 and taught as a lecturer in international studies at the university until 2011. Kreidie specializes in politics of the Middle East, with special emphasis on Islamic fundamentalism, refugees and the political psychology underlying political behavior. She also served as a Jerome and Hazel Tobis Fellow in the Interdisciplinary Center for the Scientific Study of Ethics and Morality at UCI.

She recently completed her research on the prevalence and impact of PTSD on civilians living in ongoing conflicts. With the Fulbright award she will spend a year in Jordan conducting interviews with Syrian refugees in order to compare individuals who have excelled in the face of adversity versus those who have had a more difficult time dealing with trauma.

“I will analyze their stories, how they describe their life in Syria, their road to displacement, and their experience in host countries,” Kreidie says. “I expect this study to highlight the human face of conflict by zeroing in on how certain survivors suffer from PTSD, a neuro-psychiatric injury, and how they are prone to conflict and unable to flourish, while others are resilient, and have the ability and commitment to find ways to meet the challenges and succeed.”

As a grantee, Kreidie joins the ranks of distinguished participants in the program who have become heads of state, judges, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, CEOs, and university presidents, as well as leading journalists, artists, scientists, and teachers. Fulbright Fellows include 58 Nobel Laureates, 82 Pulitzer Prize winners, 31 MacArthur Fellows, 16 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients, and thousands of leaders across the private, public and non-profit sectors. Since its inception in 1946, more than 370,000 “Fulbrighters” have participated in the Program.