FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As presidential candidates vie for their party’s nomination and the 2008 election heats up, it is time for voters to think about what the United States’ role in the world will be after the Bush administration leaves the West Wing.

Five University of Arkansas scholars will talk about this issue during an interdisciplinary panel discussion, America in the World: The Post-Bush Years, at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 7, in the School of Law’s E.J. Ball Courtroom. The panel will include experts in various fields from across the campus and is part of the University of Arkansas Hartman Hotz Lectures in Law and the Liberal Arts.

Panelists will respond to questions and comments from the audience, and the program is open to students, faculty and members of the community. Attendance is free. 

Henry McLeish, the former first minister of Scotland and the Hartman Hotz Visiting Professor in Law and the Liberal Arts, will serve as the keynote speaker. He will focus on how Europe views one of its closest allies and the challenges those views pose.

The other participants include Donald Kelley, director of the Fulbright Institute of International Relations and the director of the Russian Studies Program in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; Bob McMath, dean of the Honors College and professor of history; Todd Shields, director of the Blair Center of Southern Politics and Society and the chair of the department of political science in the Fulbright College; and Stephen Sheppard, the William H. Enfield Professor of Law and professor of public international law and the law of war in the Law School.

Sheppard said each member of the panel will discuss a different aspect of the world’s view of America and the changes America might make both at home and in the world. 

“We will each offer our opinion about how different countries view the United States,” Sheppard said. “The public should know what the world’s view is now and use that information to decide what type of leader should take the reins in 2008.”

This is the second time these scholars will meet to discuss the United States’ role in the world. Many members of the same group met on the eve of the Unites States’ invasion of Iraq to talk about the stakes of American invasion and occupation, both for America and the rest of the world.

“As the presidential election nears, we feel it is important to take another look at all of the aspects surrounding the United States and the world,” Sheppard said.  “It is appropriate to approach these issues in an interdisciplinary atmosphere rather than in isolation of our respective fields.”

The Hartman Hotz Lecture Series was established by Dr. and Mrs. Palmer Hotz of Foster City, Calif., to honor the memory of his brother, Hartman Hotz. Hartman Hotz graduated from the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences with a degree in history. After graduating from Yale University Law School, he joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas School of Law, where he made significant contributions to the study of law.

The presentation series is sponsored by the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Law. It supports the discussion of challenging social and intellectual issues of the day on the Fayetteville campus. Many distinguished speakers have participated in this lecture series, among them Chief Justice Warren Burger, G. Edward White, Shirley Abbott, Daisy Bates, Thomas Grisso, George Fletcher and George McGovern.