2025-2026 Kobe JALT Chapter Officers

Deepti Mishiro is a part-time lecturer at Osaka Metropolitan University and Mukogawa Women’s University. Her teaching experience includes positions at Kindai University’s Faculty of International Studies and six years as a History lecturer at Wilson College and V.G. Vaze College in Mumbai, India. In addition, she has taught Japanese as a Second Language to undergraduate students at R.G. Ruparel College, Mumbai. Deepti holds an M.A. in History from the University of Mumbai and an M.A. in TESOL from the University of Birmingham (U.K.).  Her research interests include multimodal conversation analysis, presentation skills, and language pedagogy. 

Anthony C. Torbert has been teaching at Kobe Gakuin University for over 25 years. He is currently treasurer for Kobe JALT and the GILE and THT Special Interest Groups. He is an avid traveler and has visited over 50 countries. He is currently studying Spanish with his sights set on walking the Camino de Santiago in the near future. 

Marian Wang is an associate professor at the Center for Education in General Studies at Konan University in Japan. She has taught at Kobe University, Kwansei Gakuin University, and the International Trade Institute (Taiwan). She has experience working for international organizations such as Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam American, Partners for Democratic Change, the World Trade Organization, and UNICEF. She holds an Ed. D. from the University of Liverpool, an M.A. in TESOL from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, an M.A. in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University, and a Certificate in International Studies in Economics and Politics from the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Her research focuses on fostering global citizens and World Englishes. 

Kyle Undem is a former participant of the JET Programme (Yamaguchi Prefecture, 2010-2012) and has lived and taught in Japan for nearly ten years. He completed an MA-TESOL at Hamline University (2021) and currently teaches in the Center for Education in General Studies at Konan University in Kobe, Japan. His interests include L2 identity, L2 motivational systems, systemic functional linguistics, and equal opportunity for all learners of English. He also enjoys photography, running, learning Japanese, and writing songs.

Shirley M. Ando  is a retired associate professor from Otemae University, where she served as director of the English language education program. Since retiring, she has been enjoying the chance to travel, spend more time with family, and explore new interests—including learning to build websites and play the ukulele.

Heather Yoder is an instructor of English as a foreign language in the School of International Studies at Kwansei Gakuin University. She has an M.A. in TESOL from Eastern Michigan University and previously taught at Kanda University of International Studies. In addition to serving as an officer of Kobe JALT, she is also a member of the JALT Environmental Committee. 

Armando Duarte is an instructor of English as a foreign language at Kwansei Gakuin University's Sanda campus. His research interests include assessment and evaluation, materials writing, and CALL. He has previously served as the Kobe chapter president and program chair.

Kevin Bartlett is an associate professor in the Department of English and Global Studies and the Graduate School of Letters at Mukogawa Women’s University. His research explores bilingualism, translanguaging, and CLIL-based approaches to English education in Japan, with a particular focus on fostering intercultural competence through international collaboration such as COIL programs. He holds an Ed.D. from the University of Southern Queensland, an M.A. in Advanced Japanese Studies from the University of Sheffield, an M.App.Ling. from the University of Southern Queensland, and a Graduate Diploma in Secondary Education (ESL and LOTE: Japanese) from Victoria University. He is a qualified TESOL and LOTE: Japanese teacher at the secondary school level in Australia, and has taught at the high school, tandai (junior college), and university levels in Japan for the past twenty years. 

John Galindo is an English instructor at Kwansei Gakuin University, Sanda Campus. He has been teaching at universities in the Kansai area since 2019. He holds an MA in Linguistics from Rice University, and his research interests include pronunciation pedagogy, collaborative writing, and learner corpora. He enjoys biking around Osaka, as well as playing jazz (piano).

Brent A. Jones grew up in California, Oregon, and Hawaii before coming to Japan in 1989 as an exchange student. He has a master's degree in language education and instructional design from Indiana University and an educational doctorate from the University of Reading. He is currently the Director of Language Programs at Konan University, Hirao School of Management, and has been an officer of Kobe JALT off and on since 1996 (or thereabouts).

Jay Pepito is a Canadian living in Nishinomiya. He holds a Bachelor's in Film Production from Kyoto University of the Arts and enjoys playing volleyball on the weekends. He is working in the Self-Access Learning Center at Otemon Gakuin University while pursuing his M.Ed Technology. Although relatively new to JALT, he is eager to get more involved in the association's activities.