Leadership
Kristin Kopp
Director of IMSI and Associate Professor of German
koppkr@missouri.edu
Bio: Cultural historian studying histories of migration into and out of German-speaking lands.
Don Joseph
Associate Director of IMSI and PFFIE Postdoctoral Fellow
don.joseph@missouri.edu
Bio: Literary and cultural studies scholar investigating questions of migration, masculinity, identity and subjectivity in contemporary queer Mediterranean literature, film, and sociopolitical movements.
Steering Committee
Matt Foulkes
Associate Professor of Geography
Bio: Population geographer studying low-income migration in the rural United States. Currently working on a study of population dynamics of meat processing communities.
Sean Franzel
Professor of German and William H. Byler Distinguished Chair in the Humanities
Research: My research examines migrations to and from German-speaking Central Europe, including German and Austrian colonial and imperial discourses. It also focuses on strategies to address and overcome their enduring legacies today.
Dominic Meng-Hsuan Yang
Associate Professor, East Asian History
Melissa Hauber-Özer
Assistant Professor of Qualitative Inquiry
Bio: Qualitative methodologist and applied linguist specializing in community-based, participatory approaches to research on migration and second language acquisition.
Faculty and Student Fellows
Rasha Abousalem
Adjunct Instructor in Peace Studies; Humanitarian Aid Worker
Bio: Research includes: the sexual exploitation of unaccompanied boys in refugee camps; Humanitarian challenges in Gaza; human rights; International Humanitarian Law (IHL)
Abigail Adediran
Doctoral Candidate, Communication
Bio: Health communication scholar studying the intersection of health, immigration, and culture.
Stephen Christ
Assistant Teaching Professor of Sociology
Bio: Sociologist studying U.S. immigrant labor, identity formation, and sociocultural dynamics in immigrant populations.
Ernest Eshun
Ph.D. Candidate in Health and Disaster Communication
Bio: Health & Disaster Communication researcher interested in the communicative issues among immigrants and migrating populations in disaster-affected areas.
Viviana Goelkel
Assistant Teaching Professor of Film
Bio: Writer and filmmaker whose work explores the experiences of marginalized characters and uses filmmaking as a tool for social change.
Aída Guhlincozzi
Assistant Professor of Geography and Women’s and Gender Studies
Bio: Community and health geographer researching health care access issues for vulnerable populations, including Latina immigrant women, and autistic children in the state of Missouri.
Aryanna Hyde
PhD Candidate in Political Science
Bio: Studies migrant political integration in the Middle East through the lenses of comparative politics and international relations.
Michael B. Limmer
PhD Candidate in History
Bio: Social historian interested in migration and globalization. Currently researching American soldiers in Italy and the Mediterranean during and after World War II.
Omotayo Jemiluyi
Graduate Fellow
Bio: With a focus on the Nigerian diaspora, I explore how migration reshapes masculinities, intersects with (post)colonialism, and drives cultural survival and adaptation.
Willie Mack
Assistant Professor, Black Studies Department
Bio: Research interests include the carceral state, twentieth century U.S. history, race, identity, and Black immigration.
Laura Obubo
Doctoral Candidate in Language & Literacies for Social Transformation
Bio: Doctoral Candidate with research and teaching interests in African Immigrant Youth identities, Critical Pedagogies, Decoloniality, African Diaspora Literature.
Affiliated Scholars
Jambul Akkaziev
Visiting Assistant Professor
Bio: Linguist teaching Russian language courses and student of US higher education policy. Currently studying the experiences of foreign-born educators in US academia.
Eileen Avery
Associate Professor of Sociology
Bio: Community sociologist currently studying residential change, rural and urban places, and health and wellbeing.
Vanessa Awa
Instructor in French
Bio: My research explores Francophone African migration, language policy, and cultural networks, analyzing sociolinguistic variation and transnational identity.
Emily Crawford-Rossi
Associate Professor of Education
Bio: K-12 education immigration policy, and school leadership expert studying educational opportunities for newcomer and immigrant-background students and families
Lisa M. Dorner
Director of Cambio Center and Professor of Education
Bio: Currently researching intergenerational storytelling in global families and communicated sense-making around miscarriage and adoption.
Natalia Filimonova
Visiting Professor and Economic Researcher
Bio: Development economist specializing in regional economic analysis and visualization. Currently working on creating a County Prosperity Index for Missouri, focusing on key economic and social indicators to support decision-making.
Haley Kranstuber Horstman
Associate Professor, Department of Communication
Bio: Family communication scholar studying how romantic partners and families navigate adversity. Currently researching intergenerational storytelling in global families and communicated sense-making around
Huichun Liang
Assistant Teaching Professor in Chinese
Bio: Scholar studying Modern Chinese language and literature, currently studying literature that reflects the experiences of Chinese immigrants.
Rosalie Metro
Associate Teaching Professor of Learning, Teaching, and Curriculum
Bio: Teacher-educator and anthropologist of education focused on history, identity, and language in the classroom, in the US and Burma/Myanmar.
Martín Ruiz-Mendoza
Assistant Teaching Professor of Spanish
Bio: Professor Ruiz-Mendoza studies contemporary Latin American cultural production, with an emphasis on violence and displacement in South and Central America.
Bradley Nichols
Assistant Professor of History
Bio: Historian of World War II, the Holocaust, and global mass violence, with an emphasis on forced migration and cultural genocide
Roberta Tabanelli
Associate Professor of Italian
Bio: Areas of research include contemporary Italian cinema, transnational cinema, adaptatation studies, post-human theories.
Seungkwon You
Director of Global Leadership Program at the Asian Affairs Center, Associate Director of the Institute for Korean Studies, and Associate Teaching Professor of Korean Studies
Bio: Political Scientist studying Korean Politics, Korean Diaspora, and US-Korea Relations. Currently consulting for the Gateway Korea Foundation