Fahed Al-Sumait

Dr. Fahed Al-Sumait is a Kuwaiti-American researcher with experience in the area of international strategic/political communication. Prior to pursuing his advanced degrees he worked in marketing communications and public affairs for a joint venture enterprise in Kuwait. He is currently the President of the Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies through the Middle East Studies Association (MESA).

He has published and presented papers on topics such as Arab democratization, terrorism, media representation, intercultural communication, nationalism and national identity. He has been funded by the Fulbright-Hays fellowship program, the National Science Foundation, the London School of Economics and Political Science, the World Information Access Project, the Peter Clarke Award, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences and the US State Department’s Title VI fellowship program, among others.

He has also conducted community outreach and public scholarship programs, as well as taught courses on the cultural impacts of technology, intercultural communication, media theory, media history, emerging media, organizational communication, photojournalism, political communication, public relations, senior projects, writing for PR, and public speaking.

After earning his PhD in Communication from the University of Washington, he received a one-year post-doctoral fellowship appointment with the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He is currently serving as an Assistant Professor of Communication at the Gulf University for Science and Technology in Kuwait, where he has served several administrative roles including Vice President of Academic Affairs, Chair and Coordinator of the Mass Communication and Media Department, Chair of the Global Studies Center, and Interim Dean of Student Affairs. As well, held a relationship with NUS as an Honorary Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute and was a visiting research fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the LSE Middle East Centre.

Specialties: Arab Democratization, Media Studies, Political Communication, Intercultural Communication, The Public Sphere, Public Relations, Marketing Communication, Qualitative Research Methods, Digital inequalities, Higher Education Administration, Arabian Peninsula studies, and Experiential Learning.

Education

• PhD University of Washington (2007 — 2011)
• Doctor of Philosophy - PhD University of Washington
• MA The University of New Mexico (2004 — 2006)
• BA University of Washington (1995 — 1998)