Scholarly Teaching Graduate Assistant
Center for Integrated Professional Development
Edcel is a Ph.D. Candidate in the English department with a specialization in Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Originally from the island of Puerto Rico, Edcel received his B.A. in English Literature with a specialization in teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Edcel has taught introductory composition, public speaking, business writing, gender in the humanities, Puerto Rican literature, children’s and young adult literature, mental health in children’s literature and media, Latina/o/x/e literature and culture, and graphic narratives. He also serves as a member of the Genre Studies Executive Forum Committee for the Modern Language Association (MLA), and the Diversity Committee for the Children’s Literature Association (ChLA).
Outside of his work at the Center, and in the English department, Edcel enjoys cooking, playing video games and writing about them in the website Gamers with Glasses, pet sitting lovely dogs, cats, and a chinchilla named Timmy, and writing poetry. Edcel’s Ted Talk “A poet's approach to hurricane narratives” is available to watch on YouTube.
At the Center for Integrated Professional Development, Edcel helps support ISU instructors on their teaching and learning by collaborating with the CIPD team in workshops, orientations, teaching and learning symposium, programs, reading circles, and pedagogical research. He is also developing content for CIPD’s social media.