kjhales@hotmail.com
https://kjhales.ueniweb.com
Dr. Kevin J. Hales is an internationally respected educator, public scholar, author, filmmaker, consultant, and podcaster. With an extensive academic background in communication studies and Africology, Dr. Hales offers a unique perspective on the lives of everyday African-descended people worldwide. Hales studies ethnicity (“race”), Africanity, social justice, rurality, intercultural communication, and nonverbal communication. Professor Hales also examines indigenous African forms of communication, including writing and visual symbol systems. Hales has an unparalleled connection to African communities across four continents and the Caribbean. He has also received numerous research awards and teaching recognition from several major universities in the United States. In May 2025, the France-based organization AfrikaFora named Dr. Hales one of the most prominent voices in the twenty-first century in the study of people of African descent. Professor Hales was announced as the inaugural winner of the Bridging the Gap Through Education Award and honored at a banquet in Paris. Hales draws on his deep academic roots across multiple fields to teach audiences in a way few other scholars can. His exceptional and insightful approach to teaching and learning has earned him the respect of his peers and the admiration of his students.
As a researcher, Professor Hales is dedicated to supporting projects that involve collaborations with traditional intellectuals in marginalized African-descendant communities. His partnerships include local scholars working among the Efik, Efut, Qua, and Igbo (Nigeria and Cameroon); Fulani and Mende (Sierra Leone); Garifuna (St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Honduras, and Belize); Afro-Brazilians (Brazil); Afro-Colombians (Colombia); Afro-Panamanians (Panama); and Gullah/Geechee (South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida). Hales has served on the Governing Board of the Council of Igbo States in America (C.I.S.A.) and collaborates with the Igbo (Ebo) Landing Project in New England and the Carolinas. He is a member of the International Garifuna Council of Yurmein (St. Vincent) and the Grenadines. He has also collaborated with AfricaFora (France). Professor Hales has served as a visiting scholar or researcher at the University of Oran (Algeria), the University of Makeni (Sierra Leone), the University of Calabar (Nigeria), the Federal University of Bahia (Brazil), and the State University of Bahia (Brazil). Dr. Hales is part of the Temple School of research and has served as the Director of Educational Initiatives for the Diopian Institute for Scholarly Advancement (DISA/Temple University). Professor Hales has been a member of the Tennessee Historical Commission’s Cemetery Advisory Committee (African American Cemetery Project). Hales is part of the Journal Editorial Board of Africa and the Western World at the University of Oran 1 (Algeria).
Dr. Hales was recently selected to participate in several prestigious research programs. These include the Black Book Interactive Project (B.B.I.P.) Scholar Program (The History of Black Writing Program at the University of Kansas, August 2022 to July 2023); The Rural Scholar Program (The Rural Communication Institute/Texas Social Media Research Institute at Tarleton State University, August 2021 to August 2023); Project S.T.A.N.D. Fellow Program (Atlanta University Center/University of Maryland, August 2021 to September 2022); The Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies/Newberry Library Consortium Program (The Marco Institute for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, July 2018 to August 2018); and the National Endowment for the Humanities/Jackson State University Summer Fellow Program (National Endowment for the Humanities and The Fannie Lou Hamer Institute at C.O.F.O./The Human and Civil Rights Interdisciplinary Education Center, June 2017 to July 2017).
Throughout his career, Hales has secured support for his research from numerous prestigious institutions. These include the National Humanities Center, the University of Missouri-Columbia, the Newberry Library, the Marco Institute, the Center for Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, the J. William Fulbright Scholar Program, the Fulbright-Hayes Program, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), the United States Department of State/Bureau of African Affairs, the Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, Ohio University, the Scripps College of Communication, the University of Michigan, and Michigan State University. This broad support underscores the significance and impact of his research and teaching.
Professor Kevin J. Hales attended Ohio University (Ph.D. and M.A. in Communication Studies), North Carolina Central University (M.A. in History), and Fisk University (B.A. in History, Religion, and Philosophy).
Keywords: Research, Collaborate, Migrations