Kassahun Kebede, PhD

About

Kassahun Kebede is a cultural sociologist who has taught and conducted research for more than 15 years in both Ethiopia and the United States. His research includes various topics such as international migration, rural livelihoods, development-induced population relocation, and health disparities. His research has been published in the Journal of African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal, African Diaspora, and Journal of Ethnic and Racial Studies. He has also edited a book, Identity and Transnationalism: The New African Diaspora Second Generation in the United States, published by Routledge 2019. He is currently studying the identity development of the second generation of the New African Diaspora, with a specific focus on the Ethiopian American second generation. In addition, with assistance from the Eastern Washington Summer research grant (2023-2024), he is examining the ways in which the Ethiopian Diaspora advocates for democracy across international borders.

Kass has been involved in extensive research and has provided consultancy services to numerous organizations including the World Bank, USAID, OXFAM-America, the University of Sussex, and the University of Bath, among others. His prior work mainly centered on rural livelihoods in Ethiopia, where he studied the effects of climate change on the rural economy and the consequences faced by rural families due to land dispossession for development initiatives.

He has been recognized with multiple awards for his teaching and research endeavors, such as the Wenner Gren Foundation, USAID, and Eastern Washington Summer research grants. Additionally, he was honored with the 2019 Teaching Excellence Award from the College of Social Sciences at EWU and the Jeffers Chertok Honors Student Influential Faculty Mentor award.

Currently, he teaches an array of subjects, including Global Migration (SOCI 385), Social Problems on a Global Scale (SOCI 263), Culture and Conflict, and Medical Sociology (SOCI 379).