DIABLO VALLEY COLLEGE Instructor: JoAnn Hobbs
JoAnn Hobbs has been a member of the English department at Los Medanos College since 1990. She began her own college career at LMC, and went on to CSU Chico to major in English and obtain a teaching credential. After completing her studies, she joined the Peace Corps, and spent 2 ½ years in Kenya, teaching English literature at a boys’ boarding school. In addition to traveling extensively throughout Kenya, she journeyed through Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. After her Peace Corps service was complete, she spent three months exploring India, Nepal, Thailand, Hong Kong and China. After returning home she earned a Master’s Degree in English Composition from San Francisco State University.
She lives in Walnut Creek with her husband, Dave, a political science instructor at LMC and Contra Costa College, and son, Stephen, who is a grad student in journalism at Berkeley. With her family she has traveled to British Columbia, the Southwest, including rafting through the Grand Canyon, Princeton, Philadelphia, New York, and most recently to Washington D.C. She also enjoys visits to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
As an English Instructor, JoAnn can think of no better place than London to go on a literary adventure. Visiting Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, combing the British Library, and visiting Charles Dickens Museum will be wonderful experiences to share with students.
COLLEGE OF SAN MATEO Instructor: Sondra Saterfield
Sondra Saterfield is very excited to have the opportunity to teach in London in the fall of 2013, and is eager to share her love of teaching with an enthusiastic and adventurous group of college students in an exciting and culturally rich city.
Sondra Saterfield has been on the faculty and a full-time Professor in the Psychology Department at Canada College since 1985, having taught many years prior to that as an adjunct and counselor in the Peralta and San Francisco Community College districts, and for many years before that as a special education teacher at the Elwyn Institute in Pennsylvania. Sondra’s primary teaching responsibilities have been in General, Development and Social Psychology. Sondra earned a Doctor of Education with emphases in Psychology from Argosy University in 2010; a Master’s Degree in Psychology from California State University East Bay in 1978, with emphases in both Educational and Clinical Psychology; her Bachelor’s Degree in Educational Psychology from Cheyney University, Pennsylvania in 1970. Sondra’s minor was in Special Education with emphases on developmental learning, emotional disorders, and social development.
Sondra’s roots are from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She has lived for many years in Los Altos California were she raised her three children, two dogs and now one cat. Sondra loves travel, having visited Europe several times, but over the years have traveled to many countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the Caribbean. Most recently, she visited Turkey. She is thrilled, honored, and eager to return to Great Britain in the fall as a faculty member in the Study Abroad program.
COSUMNES RIVER COLLEGE Instructor: Colette Harris-Mathews
Dr. Colette Harris-Mathews is a Professor of Communication Studies. She began her teaching career more than 15 years ago at California State University Sacramento in the Communication Studies and Ethnic Studies Departments. Prior to her teaching career she was employed as a District Manager for an international staffing service for 10 years. She earned both her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Communication Studies from CSUS. Her Doctorate in Educational Leadership is from Argosy University, San Francisco. Her specific areas of interest are rhetoric and public communication, organizational communication and intercultural communication. She has traveled both inside and outside of the United States and has studied Intercultural and International Communication in these contexts. Traveling and studying intercultural and international experiences in Cape Town and Johannesburg, South Africa, Manila, Philippines and throughout the United States, has continued her interest in teaching globally. She is eager to teach in London Fall 2013!
Her courses incorporate interactive lectures, paired reading dialogues and learning through doing. For the last 4 years she has incorporated group research papers, service learning projects and student engagement activities outside of the classroom. These types of assignments will enrich the London student learning experience. She is eager for community college students to have the opportunity to explore the field of Communication Studies in London. This semester promises to be a transformative learning experience for students. See you in London!
SANTA ROSA JUNIOR COLLEGE Instructor: Nicole Slovak-Villano
Nikki Slovak-Villano has been an avid Anglophile since birth – she never really had a choice. Her paternal grandmother hails from northern England, and as a child she frequently traveled to England to visit with family. She grew up reading every British author she could get her hands on, and was fascinated by ancient British mythology and archaeology. As an undergraduate at The Catholic University of America, she fulfilled a life-long dream of studying at Oxford University for a semester. To this day, it remains one of the most pivotal, transformative and down-right fun periods of her life.
Nikki currently teaches Anthropology and Archaeology at Santa Rosa Junior College. She received her Ph.D. in Anthropological Sciences from Stanford University in 2007, and her BA in Anthropology from The Catholic University of America in Washington DC in 1999. Her areas of interest include the archaeology of complex societies, the ancient Andes, mortuary customs, colonization, isotopic analysis, and bio-archaeology. Nikki has taught classes in Archaeology, Physical Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, and Anthropological Methods.
Nikki is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with students in London and to expose them to the richness that studying abroad and the discipline of Anthropology has to offer. In addition to living and studying in England, Nikki has spent multiple field seasons conducting archaeological research in Peru, Guatemala, and Montana and truly understands the joys and challenges of living abroad. Fall 2013 marks the 15 year-anniversary of her own study abroad experience, and she is so excited to make new memories not only with students but with her husband and two young daughters who will be accompanying her to London.
