Rev. Robert Dowd, C.S.C.

Assistant Provost for Internationalization
Fellow, Kellogg Institute for International Studies 
Fellow, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
Fellow, Nanovic Institute for European Studies

Fr. Dowd is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Assistant Provost for Internationalization. A graduate of Notre Dame, Dowd received his doctorate in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests include African politics, ethnic politics, and the relationship between religion, political institutions, national identity, and human development. He is author of Christianity, Islam and Liberal Democracy: Lessons from sub-Saharan Africa and several articles on African politics, religion and politics, and the relationship between participation and human development. He is currently focusing on research concerning religion and the integration of migrants/refugees in Europe and North America and the effects of faith-based schools on citizenship and civic engagement in Africa. Before his appointment as assistant provost in February 2020, Dowd was director of the Ford Family Program, which he founded in 2008. The Ford Program is part of Notre Dame’s Kellogg Institute for International Studies in the Keough School of Global Affairs. Its mission is to integrate teaching, research and grassroots community engagement in parts of the world where extreme poverty continues to be a major challenge.