Felix Kumah-Abiwu

Dr. Felix Kumah-Abiwu is an Associate Professor at the Department of Africana Studies at Kent State University. He is also the Founding Director of the Center for African Studies at Kent State. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science (International Relations, Comparative/African Politics, and Public Policy) from West Virginia University. He also studied at Ohio University and the Legon Center for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD), University of Ghana. Before he joined the Department of Africana Studies, Dr. Kumah-Abiwu taught various courses in Africana Studies at Eastern Illinois University. His research focuses on the politics of development, African security issues, elections and democratization in Africa, foreign policy analysis, foreign aid, social movements (African diaspora), African American males/public education as well as global narcotics policy. Dr. Kumah-Abiwu has presented his research papers at national (USA) and international conferences. In 2015 and 2017, he presented his research papers at the Nordic Africa Institute in Uppsala, Sweden. He also participated and presented papers at international conferences in Hamilton, Bermuda (2016), Dublin, Ireland (2018), Vienna, Austria (2019), Mauritius (2019) and Dunedin, New Zealand (2019). He is the author of The Dynamics of U.S. Narcotics Policy Change: Implications for the Global Narcotics Regime (2012). In addition to his several published book chapters, he has also contributed a chapter on the security challenges of drug trafficking in West Africa to a volume published by the United Nations University for Peace (UPEACE). Dr. Kumah-Abiwu’s scholarly articles have also appeared in the Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs (The Round Table), Journal of Pan African Studies, West Africa Review, International Journal of Public Administration, Journal of Men’s Studies, Journal of Economics/Sustainable Development, Urban Education, and Commonwealth & Comparative Politics.

EDUCATION

* B.A. in Political Science & History, University of Ghana, Legon

* M.A. in International Affairs, University of Ghana, Legon

* M.A. in International Affairs (Communication & Dev. Studies), Ohio University

* M.A. in Political Science, West Virginia University

* Ph.D. in Political Science, West Virginia University

EXPERTISE

* Elections & Democratization in Africa

* Foreign Policy Analysis/Foreign Aid & Development

* Social Movements in the African Diaspora

* African American Males and Public Education

* Narcotics Policy in Africa/African Diaspora

AFFILIATIONS

* National Council for Black Studies

* American Political Science Association

* Midwest Political Science Association