About John Quinn

John James Quinn is Professor of Political Science at Truman State University.  He has taught there since 1996. Before arriving at Truman, he obtained his MA and PhD in Political Science from UCLA (1995), including majoring in Comparative Politics (with an emphasis on Africa) and International Relations (with an edmphais on development) as well as a minor in Methodology.  Before UCLA, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) for three years.  As a volunteer, he was an English teacher in a small town for two years. For the third year, he was the Regional Representative for Haut Zaire posted out of Kisangani.  Before Peace Corps, he attended St. Vincent College (which is also a liberal arts college) in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he majored in History and English, and would later to become certified to teach social science and English (7-12 ).

At Truman, he has taught courses in African Politics, African International Relations, Comparative Politics, International Political Economy, Research Methodology, Senior Seminar, Introduction to Political Science, and Introduction to International Relations. He ha also taught two JINS classes (interdisciplanry): Why We Fight: War, Politics, and Literature, and Cultural Crossroads: Africana Studies: Ancient to Modern.  He also taught as a visiting professor at the University of Ghana-Legion in Fall 2001: African Political Thought and the Diaspora.  He won the prestigious Walker and Doris Allen Fellowship for Faculty excellence in 2010, and he has been nominated for other teaching awards.

His primary research agenda centers on the political and economic effects of majority state ownership of industry or mining or oil in Africa. He also works on issues of African democratization in the post-Cold War period, French ODA in Africa, the diffusion of conflict in Zaire and Rwanda, corruption, and comparative development and democracy. He is author of Global Geopolitical Power and African Political and Economic Institutions: When Elephants Fight (Lexington Books, 2016), as well as The Road Oft Traveled: Development Politics and Majority State Ownership of Industry in Africa (Praeger, 2002). He has published articles in several journals, included International Interactions, Party Politics, and International Politics as well as written several chapters for books and entries for handbooks and encyclopedias.

See Curriculum Vitae for more details.