International Studies Research Lab Fellows | Center for Global Studies

ISRL Fellows

Every summer, the International Studies Research Lab (ISRL) hosts scholars from two-year colleges and minority-serving institutions around the nation thanks to Title VI funding.

Previous ISRL Fellow Profiles (2021-2023)

Current Researcher Profiles

Julio Capeles

Dr. Julio Capeles is an Assistant Professor of Social Science at Oakton College. He completed a BA in Sociology from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), a MA in Sociology from New Mexico State University (NMSU), and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC). His research areas are broadly focused on global studies, ethnic studies, Latinx studies, race and ethnicity, and cultural studies. The relevant classes that he teaches are Introduction to Global Studies, Introduction to Ethnic Studies, and Latin American Civilization and Culture.

Nathan Crook

Dr. Nathan Crook is a cultural anthropologist and an associate professor at The Ohio State University - Ohio State ATI, where he teaches courses in rural sociology, cultural anthropology, and World Literature. He has researched, written, and spoken extensively about regional approaches to culinary systems and agritourism, including authoring a book, A Culinary History of the Great Black Swamp: Buckeye Candy, Bratwurst & Apple Butter (History Press, 2013). Dr. Crook has been involved in rural development work in Ghana since 2016 when he became involved with microloan and savings projects for farmers and petty traders. His collaborative research projects in Ghana include interviewing traditional Ewe leaders and storytellers in the Volta Region, exploring Ghanaian life during the famine of 1983, gaining a deeper understanding of the Ewe leadership structure, collecting integration narratives among Muslim settlers/residents of the Ho Zongo, and developing an agritourism trail for the Ho, VR area. Nathan is a co-founder of the NGO Ghana Beyond Subsistence.

Joshua Kessler

Joshua Kessler currently teaches Japanese at Green River College, a community college located in Auburn, WA. He has spent most of my teaching career there, since 2007, starting as an adjunct, moving to temporary full-time, and remaining as a fully tenured instructor. He teaches a two-year series of Japanese classes starting with Japanese I and finishing with VI, in addition to an introductory Humanities course on Japanese life and culture. Kessler designed both the year-two Japanese courses and the life and culture course. He created an Asian Studies concentration in 2019 that can be added to a student’s transcript upon graduation as well as also working with an English instructor in Okinawa, Japan on COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) in the form of language exchanges since 2020.

Sorin Nastasia

Dr. Sorin Nastasia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Applied Communication Studies at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and the director of the International Studies degree program within the College of Arts and Sciences. He earned his Ph.D. in Communication and Public Discourse at the University of North Dakota in 2010, an M.A. in Communication and Public Relations from the National University for Political Studies and Public Administration in Romania in 2003, an M.A. in International Relations from the Academy of Economic Studies in Romania in 1999, as well as an M.A. in American Cultural Studies in 1996 and a B.A. in Romanian and English Languages and Literatures in 1995 from the University of Bucharest in Romania. While at the University of North Dakota, he worked in public relations and graphic design for the Center for Community Engagement and the Housing Office, and in his native Romania he was an international relations counselor for the Ministry of Culture and a public relations counselor for the Ministry of Education. At Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Dr. Nastasia teaches undergraduate courses including Public Relations Campaigns, Public Relations Case Studies, Public Relations Visual Communication, International Public Relations, Technology Applications in Public Relations, Introduction to Public Relations, Persuasion and Social Influence, Communication Theories, as well as graduate courses including Seminar in Public Relations, Corporate Social Responsibility, Nonprofit Public Relations, Issues Reputation Management, and Seminar in Intercultural Communication. Dr. Nastasia has so far organized two study abroad courses giving students opportunities to learn first-hand in international settings, one to France and Romania and one to Germany and Hungary. Dr. Nastasia is a critical-cultural scholar seeking to understand international public relations practices and international crisis communication cases as well as of media and public portrayals of underprivileged and disadvantaged populations. For his research, Dr. Nastasia has won four Top Paper Awards at annual conferences of the National Communication Association. Dr. Nastasia has published research in edited volumes with Routledge, Peter Lang, Palgrave McMillan, and Nova. He has recently co-edited two special issues on information warfare in the context of the war in Ukraine for ESSACHESS – Journal for Communication Studies. Dr. Nastasia currently serves as Department of Applied Communication Studies Director of Internships as well as on the College of Arts and Sciences Leadership Council, and is a past president of SIUE’s Faculty Senate as well as the editor of the newsletter of the Media Education Division of AEJMC.

Camilo Peralta

Camilo Peralta is an Associate Professor of English at Joliet Junior College, where he teaches first year writing and help run the school's student-led literary magazine. He has been teaching ESL, composition, and literature for well over a decade, here in the US and abroad, working with students of all ages, races, backgrounds, and abilities. Peralta's research interests include religion, science fiction / fantasy, and conservatism. His work on these and other subjects has been featured in, most recently, the journals "Religions," "Mythlore," and "Symbolism." His first monograph, "Wizard of Mecosta: Russell Kirk, Gothic Fiction, and the Moral Imagination," was recently published by Vernon Press.

Carolina Rocha

Carolina Rocha is Professor of at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. She specializes in contemporary Argentine film and literature. She is the author of Masculinities in Contemporary Argentine Popular Cinema (Palgrave 2012) and Argentine Cinema and National Identity (Liverpool University Press 2017). She has also coedited several volumes: Violence in Argentine Literature and Film with Elizabeth Montes Garces, New Trends in Argentine and Brazilian Cinema with Cacilda Rêgo, Representing History, Class and Gender in Spain and Latin America: Children and Adolescents in Film with Georgia Seminet, and Contemporary Latin American Cinema. Resisting Neoliberalism? (2018) with Claudia Sandberg.

Michelle Vale

Michelle Vale is currently the Manager of International Student Services at Joliet Junior College and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English with a French minor. She also completed a Master of Education degree in College Student Affairs Leadership at Grand Valley State University. Prior to Joliet Junior College, she was at University of Illinois at Chicago for six years as an International Student Coordinator. She has also served on multiple boards, including Study Illinois and NAFSA (National Association of International Educators) Region V. After joining Joliet Junior College seven years ago, Vale has developed a passion for engaging community college students in global experiences while remaining committed to access and equity. She has also participated in two IAPP (International Academic Partnership Programs) with the Institute for International Education, both in Greece and Thailand.