Dr. Portada received his Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in political science in 2008 and joined the faculty at Kutztown University in 2009.
At KU. Dr. Portada teaches courses in comparative politics and international relations. He began serving as Chair of the Department of Philosophy and Government in 2023.
Dr. Portada specializes in the politics of the Global South. He has published work on Latin America and the Caribbean, East Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. His research is thematically diverse, covering religion and politics, private security companies, social movements, military interventions, and international diplomacy.
FYS 100: Dictators and Despots POL 020: Introduction to International Relations POL 030: Introduction to World Politics POL 133: Politics of Cuba and the Caribbean POL 231: Social Movements and Revolutions POL 322: International Relations Theory POL 332: Politics of Latin America
Robert A. Portada III, Steve B. Lem, and Uttam Paudel, “The Final Frontier: China, Taiwan, and the United States in Strategic Competition for Central America,” Journal of Chinese Political Science 25/4 (2020): 551-573.
Robert A. Portada III and Lynsey Billet, “The Finger on the Scale: International Interventions in the Middle East and North Africa Following the Arab Spring,” Journal of Global South Studies 36/1 (2019): 23-58.
Robert A. Portada III, John H. Riley, Michael D. Gambone, “Security Sector Reform in South Sudan: Identifying the Role for Private Military and Security Companies,” Journal of Third World Studies 31/2 (2014): 151-178.
Robert A. Portada III, “Indirect Confrontation: The Evolution of the Political Strategy of the Cuban Catholic Church,” in Mauricio A. Font and Carlos Riobó, eds., Handbook of Contemporary Cuba: Economy, Politics, Civil Society, and Globalization (Boulder: Paradigm Publishers, 2013).