Organization and Contributing Faculty

The International Relations program is governed by an executive committee, and has a dedicated team of faculty advisors (see below).

The home of the International Relations program is the Department of Political Science. As an interdisciplinary program, International Relations is staffed by faculty from the following departments:

• Area Studies
  • African and African American Studies
  • Chinese Studies
  • East Asian Studies
  • Latin American Studies
  • Middle East Studies
  • Russian Studies
• School of Communications
• Geography and Planning
• History
• Hospitality and Tourism Management
• Political Science
• Seidman College of Business 
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
• Sociology

Staff and Program Contact Information

Academic Office Coordinator
Deb Rotman
(616) 331-2320
rotmand@gvsu.edu

irdept@gvsu.edu

Fax: (616) 331-3550

International Relations
1121 AuSable Hall
1 Campus Drive
Grand Valley State University
Allendale, MI 49401-9403

Polly Diven

Ph.D. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Director, International Relations Program
1107 AuSable Hall
(616) 331-3282
divenp@gvsu.edu
profile
Fields: international relations, U.S. foreign policy, American politics

Chad Lingwood

Ph.D. (University of Toronto)
D-1-122 Mackinac Hall
(616) 331-8697
lingwoch@gvsu.edu
Fields: Middle East, Islamic Civilization, Iran, Persian Literature

Anne Caillaud

Ph.D. (Michigan State University)
B-2-247 Mackinac Hall
(616) 331-3371
caillaua@gvsu.edu
Fields: Modern Languages and Literature (French)

Wei Sun

Ph.D. (University of Kentucky)
482C DeVos Center
(616) 331-7424
sunw@gvsu.edu
Fields: international finance and economics
profile

John Constantelos

Ph.D. (Duke University)
1125 AuSable Hall
(616) 331-2869
constanj@gvsu.edu
profile
Fields: comparative politics, Western Europe, international political economy

Polly Diven

Ph.D. (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
Director, International Relations Program
1107 AuSable Hall
(616) 331-3282
divenp@gvsu.edu
profile
Fields: international relations, U.S. foreign policy, American politics

Michelle Miller-Adams

Ph.D. (Columbia University)
1105 AuSable Hall
(616) 331-2864
millmich@gvsu.edu
profile
Fields: international relations, international and domestic development

Heather Tafel

Ph.D. (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
1128 AuSable Hall
(616) 331-1131
tafelh@gvsu.edu
profile
Fields: democratization, federalism, Russia and Eastern Europe

Thomas Walker

Ph.D. (Rutgers University)
1102 Au Sable Hall
(616) 331-8713
walkerth@gvsu.edu
profile
Fields: international relations, history of international political thought, causes of war

Yi Zhao

Ph.D. (Yale University)
1108 AuSable Hall
(616) 331-8523
zhaoy@gvsu.edu
profile
Fields: comparative politics, Chinese politics, judicial politics