Kevin Grisham

Students wanting to schedule meetings with Dr. Grisham during the Fall Semester 2025 can go to his appointment calendar: CLICK HERE TO MAKE APPOINTMENT

ABOUT ME:

I am a proud first-generation student who had the privilege of graduating from CSUSB in 1997 with my BA in Criminal Justice. I then completed coursework for my MA in Interdisciplinary Studies at CSUSB. After working overseas in Yemen, I returned to the Inland Empire and began teaching in 2000. Since 2000, I have been privileged to teach students from the Inland Empire at Victor Valley Community College, the University of California, Riverside, and California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). I returned to CSUSB in 2007 to teach and have been here ever since, teaching at the San Bernardino and Palm Desert campuses. In 2021, I became the Associate Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and in 2022, I was appointed Interim Associate Provost of Faculty Affairs and Development. I served in that position from July 2022 to August 2024, when I decided to return to my passion -- teaching and mentoring students. 

I am now a Professor of Global Studies at the Palm Desert Campus of CSUSB, helping to serve the students and communities of the Coachella Valley. I teach general education courses in the social sciences at PDC and serve as the Co-Coordinator of the CSUSB Model United Nations Program.

Since 1997, I have studied hate and violent extremism both in the United States and globally. My research focuses on the reasons why violent political movements (including hate groups) transform over time into other entities, including mainstream political parties, criminal organizations, and terrorist organizations. Since December 2015 (with the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino, California), I shifted my research back to primarily focus on hate groups, hate and racism, and violent extremist ideology in the United States. From 2015 to 2021, I served as the Associate Director for the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at CSUSB. Our research was frequently cited by the national and international press, as well as policymakers in the U.S. and abroad. For example, President Biden and the US Congress used research conducted with Prof. Brian Levin to justify the passing of federal law related to hate crimes against the AAPI communities.

Through my research on race, hate, and violent extremism, I am frequently interviewed in various media outlets, including BBC News, NPR, Rolling Stone Magazine, and other regional, national, and international press outlets. For a sampling of those interviews, see below:

Dr Kevin Grisham ISIS and Egyptian Bombing, February 16 2015 (BBC World News)

Proud Boys channels are exploding on Telegram, January 14, 2021 (Rolling Stone)

CSUSB professor discusses QAnon influencers on paid subscription service Patreon, January 13, 2021 (Rolling Stone)

The Democracy Project program on home-grown extremists features CSUSB professor Kevin Grisham, May 19, 2021 (Jefferson Public Radio (Southern Oregon University))

CSUSB professor discusses threat of right-wing extremist violence on March 4, March 2, 2021 (Insider)

QAnon’s spread to Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed by CSUSB professor, September 7, 2020 (Balkan Insight [East Europe])

CSUSB professor discusses QAnon conspiracy movement, August 27, 2020 (KCBS Radio - Santa Barbara)