Michele Arcidiacono Krup is the chairperson of the Diablo Valley College Art Department, where she is also entering her twenty-second year of full time teaching. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree at Sonoma State University, and Master of Art and Master of Fine Arts Degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.
Michele is of Italian heritage with family ties to Lucca, an ancient walled city forty-five minutes from Florence. Pursuit of her personal creative and research interests has afforded her a working familiarity of the Tuscan region as well as a passionate devotion to introducing students to all of the artistic and historical riches of a truly Florentine experience.
Michele is a practicing artist with her work focusing on the surreal translation of her current visual experiences. When not in the studio, Michele enjoys preparing both traditional and modern Italian recipes in her kitchen. She has a special fondness for fresh gelato.
Michele is excited to participate in the DVC Florence study abroad program and considers the international learning experience to be an important contributor to the college students’ ability to appreciate the global role they will play in the future.
Bob Duxbury has taught English at Santa Rosa Junior College for over thirty years, and has led the semester abroad to both Paris and Florence. Originally from England, he has traveled widely in Europe, and looks forward to taking students on this new adventure.
Liz Nelson has served as a professor of psychology at American River College in Sacramento, California for the past seven years. She grew up in Austin, Texas, and she has since lived in several states including Oklahoma, Montana, Washington, and California. This year, she is celebrating her twentieth year of teaching psychology. She was introduced to psychology at an early age when her parents opened a group therapy practice in their home. She earned her Bachelor’s in Sociology from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, and her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from University of California, at Santa Barbara. After working in residence life for five years, Liz received her doctorate in Counseling Psychology from Oklahoma State University. She completed her pre-doctoral internship as a staff psychologist at Montana State University. Since then, she has served as a professor of psychology at Central Washington University and California State University, Stanislaus. In those positions, she trained graduate students in a marriage and family therapy masters program. She is a licensed psychologist in the State of California, and she had a private practice before she started teaching at American River College.
She has travelled to Europe, including Italy, as part of a tour when she was a senior in college, and she has wanted to go back ever since! She is in her third semester of studying Italian, and she hopes that her Italian skills will assist in exploring Italy with her students. She and her husband are parents of twins, and she is very excited that her family, minus the pets, will be joining her on this adventure to Firenze (Florence)!
Philosophy: I believe that studying psychology in Italy will be a great experience for the students for they will be examining their own lives while they try to understand what it means to be Italian. I believe that one goal of study abroad is to develop empathy for others, and I feel teaching psychology, whether it is cross cultural psychology, social psychology or abnormal psychology, will be a great educational experience for any student for it will enhance their understanding of diversity. I hope to help students make a smooth transition from one culture to another by understanding how psychology applies to the understanding of cultural differences and personal growth.
Michael Stanford teaches history at Cañada College. After studying European and American history at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and San Francisco State University he moved to France where he taught at the Lycée International in St. Germain-en-Laye. While living in Paris for ten years he worked, studied, and traveled in over seventeen countries including, of course, Italy. He returns to Europe periodically to visit friends and to maintain his connection with European society and culture.
Note: Studying history in Florence will be a unique opportunity for my students with limitless opportunities to engage in experiential learning. Italy provides an incredibly rich environment in which to study all facets of history including art, architecture, archeological sites, music, literature, and culture. To that end I will help my students develop a deeper knowledge and broader awareness of both the past and the present in Italy. By taking the classroom to the places where historical events and phenomena actually occurred and by learning about contemporary Italian and European life, students will engage in an immeasurable amount personal enrichment and knowledge.
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