Kevin J. Hales

Kevin Hales photo
Assistant Teaching Professor
315 Switzler Hall
Education

Dr. 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). 

Bio

Dr. Kevin J. Hales is an internationally respected public scholar, author, filmmaker, consultant, and podcaster. Because of his deep academic roots in communication studies and Africology, Dr. Hales can uniquely delve into the lives of everyday African-descended people worldwide. Hales studies ethnicity ("race"), Africanity, diversity, social justice, rurality, and intercultural communication. Dr. Hales also examines indigenous African writing systems.

As a researcher, Dr. Hales is committed to fostering projects that include collaborations with traditional intellectuals in marginalized Africoid communities. His partnerships extend to local scholars working among the Efik, Efut, Qua, and Igbo (Nigeria and Cameroon); Fulanis and Mende (Sierra  Leone); Garifuna (St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Honduras, and Belize); Afro-Brazilians (Brazil); and Gullah/Geechee (South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida).  

Dr. 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. Hales is a member of the International Garifuna Council of Yurmein (St. Vincent) and the Grenadines. He has also collaborated with AfricaFora, based in Paris, France. Hales has spent time as a visiting scholar or researcher at the University of Oran (Algeria), the University of Makeni (Sierra Leone), the University of Calabar (Nigeria), and the State University of Bahia (Brazil). Dr. Hales has also worked with scholars at the University of Nigeria in Nsukka.     

For 2024-25, Dr. Hales is working on a documentary. His film focuses on reconnection efforts between the Global African Diaspora and continental Africans. Hales will film on three continents and hopes to complete this groundbreaking project by December 2025. During the summer of 2024, Dr. Hales spent two months filming in Salvador, Brazil. The State University of Bahai invited Dr. Hales, a visiting researcher, to use their campus as a site for interviews and filming. During this time, Hales offered public lectures on the cultural connections between African Americans, Afro-Brazilians, and continental Africans to area college and high school students. In addition, Dr. Hales is collaborating with researchers at the Federal University of Bahia. They are documenting the story of women living in a rural Salvador community known as a "branca."   

In June 2024, Hales was a National Center for the Humanities Podcasting Scholar. Hales has created a new podcast called "Conversations with Kevin." Dr. Hales will interview people of African descent and those who have fought to make this world fairer and more equitable. His upcoming interviewees have made international, national, regional, and local impacts. These will include well-known cultural, social, political, and economic leaders. The first of these pods will be available in September 2024.

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), 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).

Hales has secured support for his research from various prestigious institutions throughout his career. These include the National Humanities Center, University of Missouri-Columbia, Newberry Library, Marco Institute and Center for Renaissance Studies at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, J. William Fulbright Scholar Program, Fulbright-Hayes Program, National Endowment for the Humanities (N.E.H.), United States Department of State/Bureau of African Affairs, Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture, Ohio University and the Scripps  College of Communication, University of Michigan, and Michigan State University. This broad support underscores the significance and impact of his research and teaching.

In 2014, Dr. Hales officially initiated Ekpe/Mgbe while living in Cross River State, Nigeria. Hales was the first African American to do this and has long been interested in pre-colonial African writing, knowledge, and communication systems. Professor Hales' book, Nsibidi: The Markings and Movements of Ancient Africa, was published by Cognella Academic Publishing in January 2024.

Courses Taught

Communication Competencies for a Diverse Workplace (COMMUN 4478), Political Communication (COMMUN 4473), Culture as Communication (COMMUN 3470),  Research Methods (34420, and Special Topics/Black Speak: Communication Among the African-Descended (COMMUN 3701).