Academics

Faculty & Staff

photo of Darren Kew

Darren Kew, PhD

  • Associate Professor; Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance; McCormack Graduate School
    Executive Director of the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development
    McCormack Graduate School
  • Telephone: 617.287.7428
  • Office Location: Wheatley Hall, 4th Floor, Room 26

Areas of Expertise

Civil Society and Transnational Civil Society Development, International Security and Crisis Intervention in Africa, Conflict Resolution Efforts as Grassroots Approaches to Promoting Democracy, Conflict and Democracy in Africa (especially Nigeria), Culture and Religion, International Negotiation, Nation-building

Degrees

PhD, Tufts University

Professional Publications & Contributions

  • Kew, D. (in press). Democracy, Conflict Resolution, and Civil Society in Nigeria (Syracuse University Press).

  • "Civil Society Roles" paper presented at the International Studies Association conference in New York City (February 2011)

  • Kwaja, C and Kew, D, (April 2010) Analysis: Nigeria's smoldering crisis in Jos -Dialogue between Christians and Muslims is necessary to prevent another round of violence.

Additional Information

Darren Kew studies the relationship between conflict resolution methods and democratic development in Africa. He is the Executive Director of the Center for Peace, Democracy, and Development. Much of his work focuses on the role of civil society groups in democratic development. He monitored the last three Nigerian elections and the 2007 elections in Sierra Leone.

Associate Professor Kew has worked with the Council on Foreign Relations' Center for Preventive Action to provide analysis and blueprints for preventing conflicts in numerous areas around the world, including Nigeria, Central Africa, and Kosovo. He has also been a consultant on democracy and peace initiatives to the United Nations, USAID, the US State Department, and to a number of NGOs, including the Carter Center in a 1999 effort by former President Carter to mediate the Niger Delta conflicts. Policymakers in Washington and academics here and in Nigeria recognize Professor Kew for his deep, firsthand knowledge of Nigerian politics and society. His work on how conflict resolution methods promote democratization of national political cultures is among the first of its kind linking these important fields.