Darren Kew

U.S. Friends of Queen’s University Belfast Visiting Professorship Award, Queen's University Belfast - Peace & Conflict Resolution

Darren is Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He studies the relationship between conflict resolution methods – particularly interfaith and inter-ethnic peacebuilding – and democratic development in Africa. Much of his work focuses on the role of civil society groups in this development. He has also been a consultant on democracy and peace initiatives to the United Nations, USAID, US Institute of Peace, the US State Department, as well as to a number of NGOs, including the Carter Center. He monitored the last six Nigerian elections and the 2007 elections in Sierra Leone. Darren is author of numerous works on Nigerian politics and conflict resolution, including the book Civil Society, Conflict Resolution, and Democracy in Nigeria. Research interests include: civil society, conflict prevention, and transnational civil society development; religion, ethnicity, and conflict resolution; international security and crisis intervention in Africa; conflict resolution efforts as grassroots approaches to promoting democracy; Conflict and democracy in Africa (especially Nigeria), including elections; international negotiation and mediation.