Director
Brandon Kendhammer
Director, International Development Studies
Associate Professor, Political Science
Office (IDS): 118 Yamada International House
Office (Political Science): 215 Bentley Annex
kendhamm@ohio.edu
Brandon Kendhammer is Director of International Development Studies and Associate Professor of Political Science at Ohio University. He holds a B.A. in French and political science from Coe College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research and teaching interests are religious and ethnic politics in West Africa (and especially Nigeria).
His recent book, Muslims Talking Politics: Islam, Democracy, and Law in Northern Nigeria (University of Chicago Press) explores the emergence of popular demands for the expansion of Islamic law in new Muslim-majority democracies, while his most recent work focuses on the perils of ethno-religious powersharing in uncertain African democracies. He is also co-authoring a short history of the Boko Haram crisis for Ohio University Press.
Dr. Kendhammer has lived and conducted research in Cameroon and Nigeria, and was a Fulbright Fellow in Nigeria in 2007-08, based at Usmanu Danfodiyo University in Sokoto. His work has appeared in many academic journals, including Comparative Politics, Journal of Human Rights, and Ethnic and Racial Studies. He is also the co-author of a USAID-funded report on countering Boko Haram’s violent extremism, and he provides briefings and analysis on political and religious affairs in Nigeria for numerous governmental agencies and media outlets.