Joseph DeLeon, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies completed his PhD in Film, Television, and Media from the University of Michigan with graduate certificates in Teaching and Science, Technology, and Society. He teaches courses on media, power, and inequality such as American Society and Media and Diversity in the US. He also teaches the core course in the DS minor DS 201, Digital Identities and Communities, as well as DS 340, Identity and Representation in Digital Culture. His research analyzes subcultural and queer community media projects before the rise of the web. He previously served as co-director of the Digital Studies Workshop and was a founding member of the Digital Inequality Lab, both at the University of Michigan.

Email: [email protected] | Phone: (616) 331-8206 | Office: 212 Lake Ontario Hall

Laurence José serves as the Director of the Digital Studies minor and is a Professor of Writing. She holds a PhD in Rhetoric and Technical Communication and joined Grand Valley State University in 2010. In Writing, she teaches courses such as multimodal composing, document design and visual rhetoric, and writing in the global context. She also teaches DS 202, Digital Data and Design, and DS 495, Digital Studies Capstone, in the minor. She is particularly interested in the influence of technology and global contexts on communication and the evolution of genres. She also coordinates the Writing Department's Advisory Board and is the faculty advisor for the Organization for Professional Writers (OPW).

Email: [email protected] | Phone: (616) 331-3418 | Office: 301 Lake Ontario Hall

Alisha Karabinus, Assistant Professor of Writing and Digital Studies, completed her Ph.D in English (Rhetoric and Composition) at Purdue University, where she also received an MFA in creative writing in 2014. During her Ph.D studies, Alisha focused on games, digital public rhetorics, and technical communication, and her dissertation explored the need for contextualized metric analysis to combat exclusionary publication practices in game studies. She co-hosts the long-running Not Your Mama’s Gamer podcast and serves as a member of the Digital Aggression Studies working group. In her spare time, Alisha enjoys reading, cooking, and playing digital and analog games. Alisha lives in Grand Rapids with her partner, Terry, their two children, Jack and Charlotte, and one anxious dog, Banjo.

Email: [email protected]| Phone: (616) 331-8037 | Office: 309 Lake Ontario Hall

 Ta'les Love, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, received her PhD in Communication and Media from the University of Michigan with graduate certificates in Teaching and African American Studies. She teaches courses on the intersection between race, culture, and media such as Diversity in the US and Intro to African American Studies. Professor Love also teaches the core class of the program, Digital Identities and Communities. Professor Love's research broadly examines Black digital cultures, with recent emphasis on Black beauty influencers and the beauty industry. Her research is available in peer-reviewed academic journals including Communication, Culture and Critique and Cultural Studies. Professor Love is a former journalist and a digital content creator with over seven years of experience.

Email: [email protected]| Phone: (616) 331-8209 | Office: 209 Lake Ontario Hall

Janelle Malagon is an Assistant Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at GVSU, teaching in the Digital Studies and Environmental and Sustainability Studies programs. They earned their PhD at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where they completed their dissertation, Survival at Play: How Videogames Imagine Environment (Decolonization Not Included). Their research focuses on the intersections of videogames and Indigenous environmental justice issues. While at UWM, they served as a director of the Digital Cultures Collaboratory in the Center for 21st Century Studies. Through the Collaboratory’s livestreaming collective, Serious Play, they ran academic livestreaming shows covering everything from board games to Street Fighter.

Email: [email protected] | Phone: (616)331-8224 | Office: 317 Lake Ontario Hall

Steven Nathaniel is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies whose research applies ideas from science and technology studies to literature, film, and digital media. This broad and interdisciplinary curiosity takes many forms, but it focuses on the way communication technologies shape the expression of racial identity. He teaches DS 350, Social Media in Culture, and DS 201, Digital Identities and Communities. His past work as a mechanical engineer shapes the way he thinks about technology’s social effects, but more importantly it drives his passion for working with students who enjoy crossing disciplinary boundaries.

Email: [email protected] | Phone: (616)331-8224 | Office: 109 Lake Ontario Hall