Biography
Dr. Grisel d’Elena holds a Ph.D. in Politics and International Relations from Florida International University, where she serves as an adjunct professor and Program Director of Panthers Care in the Dean of Students Office. In her administrative role, she leads a team supporting students navigating crises and concerns that affect their well-being and academic success. Her research examines Buddhist nationalism, gender, and the international community’s response to the Rohingya crisis. Through fieldwork in Southeast Asia, she engaged with United Nations officials, refugee coalition members, and ethnic minority communities to investigate the persecution of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. Her ethnographic research included an interview with U Ashin Wirathu, a prominent figure associated with Myanmar’s Buddhist nationalist 969 Movement. This fieldwork informed her master’s thesis, “The Gender Problem of Buddhist Nationalism in Myanmar: The 969 Movement and Theravada Nuns,” and laid the foundation for her doctoral dissertation, “In Search of Agency: The Rohingya Genocide, International Permissibility and Geopolitics in Myanmar.” Across her scholarship, teaching, and student support leadership, Dr. d’Elena brings a commitment to understanding exclusion and supporting people navigating complex challenges.