Joel P. Rhodes is a Professor in the History and Anthropology Department and Associate Dean in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Raised in Kansas, he earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in History from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

His teaching and research interests are in Cold War era American social and political history, and the history of children and childhood. Dr. Rhodes has written seven books: "The Vietnam War in American Childhood," "Growing Up in a Land Called Honalee: The Sixties in the Lives of American Children," "The Sixties Cultural Revolution: Facts and Fictions," "The Voice of Violence: Performative Violence as Protest in the Vietnam Era," and "A Missouri Railroad Pioneer: the Life of Louis Houck." An avid storytelling enthusiast, he has also written "Haunted Cape Girardeau: Where the River Turns a Thousand Chilling Tales" and co-authored "Historic Cape Girardeau: an Illustrated History."

His articles and chapters have appeared in On the Ground: The Black Panther Party in Communities Across America, Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth, Girlhood in America: An Encyclopedia, Missouri Historical Review, and The SAGE Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies. Dr. Rhodes has also delivered papers at the American Historical Association (AHA) annual meeting, and international conferences hosted by the Society for the History of Children and Youth (SHCY) and the Society for the Study of Childhood in the Past (SSCIP).

Dr. Rhodes serves, or has served, on a number of Boards of Directors including the State Historical Records Advisory Board (appointed by Governor Jay Nixon), the Missouri Humanities Council, Missouri Association for Museums and Archives, National Digital Newspaper Program in Missouri Advisory Board, Colonial Fox Theatre Foundation (Pittsburg, KS), The Historical Association of Greater Cape Girardeau, The Stars & Stripes Museum/Library Association, and co-produced the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival.