JOHN CLARK
Chairperson Department of International Relations
Florida International University


John Clark earned his B.A. degree in Political Science (magna cum laude) at Georgia Southern University in 1986. He earned his M.A. degree (1988) and Ph.D. (1992) in Foreign Affairs at the University of Virginia.

John began his professional career at FIU in Fall 1991 as an Instructor in the International Relations Department. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1992, and then to Associate Professor in 1997. During the 2000-2001 academic year, John served as Acting Graduate Director for his Department, and he became Chairperson in Fall 2002.

He specializes primarily in state-society relations and international relations of sub-Saharan Africa. He is co-editor of Political Reform in Francophone Africa (1997) and editor of The African Stakes of the Congo War (2002). He has published some thirty articles and book chapters since 1993. During the 1999-2000 academic year, he was a Fulbright lecturer and research scholar at Makerere University, Uganda. He has made five research trips to the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) since 1990, and is currently writing a monograph on the failure of the Congolese democratic experiment, which lasted from 1991 to 1997.

John has taught six different undergraduate courses and five different graduate courses for his Department, and one course for the University Honors Program. He teaches in the areas of international relations theory, foreign policy, and development in Africa. He won a Teaching Incentive Program award in 1996, and a University Advising award in 1999.

John has served on the University Committee on the Status of Women (1994-1996), the Access and Equity Committee (1997-1999), and on the Faculty Senate (1996-1997 and 2000-2001 academic years).


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