News
Constantelos Wins Internationalization Award
February 08, 2018
On February 1, 2018, political science Professor John Constantelos was recognized at GVSU's Faculty Awards Convocation with the Internationalization Award. He gave an address, "Internationalized!" The award "honors a GVSU faculty member for significant service, teaching, program development, international projects, and other contributions to the internationalization of the University and campus community."
Among his many accomplishments, Constantelos built GVSU's relationships with universities in Grand Rapids' sister city of Perugia, Italy from the ground up. He played a critical role in the political science department's trilateral, grant-funded Studies in Transatlantic International Relations (STAIR) partnership with Cracow University of Economics (Poland) and the University of Debrecen (Hungary). He worked to internationalize the curriculum, bringing five international courses to the political science and international relations programs. He has been an excellent teacher of a variety of international and global courses at GVSU. His European Union (EU) course has given many students the opportunity to travel to Indiana to compete with other universities at the Midwest Model European Union simulation. He has also directed the international relations program at GVSU.
In addition to his excellent service and teaching, Constantelos has published some exemplary international research. Three main strands of his research agenda stand out. One is his published work on interest groups in Italy and France and how these groups interacted with European integration. A second body of research, which includes work funded by the Canadian Embassy, compared responses in Michigan and Ontario to the manufacturing crisis related to the Great Recession. Finally, he has also published articles on public opinion regarding international organizations such as the EU and the United Nations. His research lies at the foundation of his other internationalization work at GVSU; due to his expertise, he has been well-suited to be a campus leader in a range of internationalization activities.