Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness. Mark Twain

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Barcelona Fall 2012 Faculty

Instructor:  Matthew Powell - DIABLO VALLEY COLLEGE
Matthew Powell, Ed.D. is professor of History at Diablo Valley College. He earned his BA and Teaching Credential from Chico State, his MA from the University of New Mexico, his doctorate from UC Davis, and has studied history and languages at the Université de Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar, Sénégal and at Universidad de La Habana in Havana, Cuba. His teaching specialty is the African Diaspora with a special interest in the African Atlantic. Powell has traveled in western Europe and throughout Central and South America with extended and repeated stays in Venezuela, Colombia and Guatemala. In all of these places he has practiced yoga and martial arts. After having studied French in Antibes, he is excited to spend the semester on the Mediterranean in Catalunya! Students who join him in this adventure will be required to make use of Barcelona's rich resources and encouraged to see themselves as citizens of the world and as intimately connected to historical people and events. Animate!


Instructor: Monica Malamud -  COLLEGE OF SAN MATEO
Monica was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In high school, she was an exchange student in Indiana; so she knows first-hand what an amazing life-changing experience a semester abroad can be. In Argentina she received a Bachelor’s in Systems Analysis and a Master’s in Information Systems Engineering. Once again, she got the study abroad bug, so she came back to the United States to continue her college education: she pursued a second Master’s, this one in Computer Science, and then went on to receive a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from Boston University.

Monica started teaching computer courses in college 25 years ago, but she switched to Spanish in 1993. Prior to Cañada College, she taught at Boston U., Tufts, Brandeis and Stanford. As a native speaker of Spanish, she had to learn English as a foreign language, so she understands what it takes to be a successful language learner. She is as passionate about language learning as she is about teaching: in addition to English and Spanish, she speaks Portuguese fluently, she can function well in German, Spanish and French, she has rudimentary knowledge of Mandarin and Japanese, and she’s currently studying Hebrew.

When she’s not teaching, Monica loves to travel. In addition to going back to Argentina to visit her family twice a year, Monica travels internationally frequently. She’s been to most countries in Europe, several in Asia and the Americas, and New Zealand, and she’s looking forward to getting started with Africa soon. What Monica likes best about travelling is the opportunity to experience life in other countries and learn about other people and their culture. She’s thrilled that study abroad students will have this opportunity in Barcelona, and that they will be able to learn Spanish in the manner that yields the best results: by combining classroom instruction with immersion in the language.



Instructor: Suzanne Maggio-Hucek - SANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE
Suzanne Maggio-Hucek, LCSW, has been teaching Psychology at SRJC and Sonoma State University for five years. A licensed clinical social worker, she has worked in community organizations for more than 25 years. Suzanne earned her MSW from Sacramento State University and her BA in English literature from Boston College.

The granddaughter of Italian immigrants, Suzanne has travelled to Europe many times and spent her junior year abroad at the University of Exeter in England. It will be her pleasure to share with all of you her energy and expertise on location in Barcelona, Spain. One of the advantages of study abroad, she says, is the opportunity to put into practice many of the concepts learned in the classroom. Experiences such as learning a new language, trying a new food, finding one's way around an unfamiliar piazza (plaza) or interacting with new classmates all offer the student an opportunity to learn through doing, thereby creating an environment that has the potential for profound personal and academic growth. “Stretching beyond our comfort zone, far away from the safety and security of the familiar encourages us to challenge ourselves in new ways,” she explained. “Psychology is a field that offers us a window into that process; an opportunity to look at how we respond and why and a chance for us to get to know ourselves in a profound and life changing way.”




Instructor Diane Richey-Ward - COSUMNES RIVER COLLEGE

Diane is a practicing visual artist and fulltime Professor of Art at American River College in Sacramento. Her mixed-media drawings and video installations have been exhibited regionally and in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Europe. She has been the fortunate recipient of eleven artist-in-Residencies in the US, Netherlands, France, Canada and Mexico. These fellowships involve creating a body of work over a period of two months in a guest studio, then exhibiting these drawings at the conclusion of her stay. Diane has been awarded a residency for Barcelona this June, initiating a series involving architectural structure and Antoni Gaudi. She has had the privilege of teaching abroad with NCSAC three previous semesters: Art History and Drawing in Paris in 2008, Florence in 2009, and London in 2010. These experiences have further cementing her fierce commitment and enthusiasm for the Study Abroad program. Having concentrated on the medium of Drawing in both her teaching and artistic expression, she combines this expertise with extensive travel and art historical experience to provide a unique opportunity for students to broaden their visual and cultural awareness.


No comments:

Post a Comment