Faculty and Staff
Study alongside a diverse faculty with expertise in languages and cultures around the world.
The Department of World Languages and Cultures at Cal State Monterey Bay is home to a diverse faculty and a broad range of expertise.
You will learn from professors and instructors with expertise in areas like second language acquisition, teaching languages, education technology, punk culture, Spanish popular music, food studies and Japan-U.S. relations.
Our faculty are active in their field in many ways, from publishing textbooks to presenting their scholarly work at academic conferences around the world.
In our department, you will also receive personalized guidance and support from an expert staff, including language lab staff and academic and career advisors.
World Languages & Cultures Faculty & Staff
Tenured & Tenure-Track Faculty
- Christine Fernandez
- Carolyn Gonzalez
- Rebecca Pozzi
- Yoshiko Saito Abbott
- David Vila Dieguez
- Dustin Wright (Chair)
Faculty Emeritus
- Donaldo Urioste
- Maria Zielina
Lecturer Faculty
- Adrian Andrade
- Marco Barbosa
- Darby Brown
- Brian Chávez Bolaños
- Sara Cisneros
- Judy Cortes
- Marilu Flores
- Gus Leonard
- Junko Matsuda
- Tomoko Ogaki
- Ryoko Ohnishi
- Pablo Oliva
- An Pham
- Alisha Romano
- Laura Saldana
- Michele Santamaria
Administrative & Technical Staff
- Gus Leonard
- David Bennett
- Cynthia Tanabe (MBWLP Coordinator)
Academic Advisor
- Japanese Language & Culture and Spanish Language & Hispanic Cultures
Teresa Nieves Espinoza
A World Languages and Cultures' Tenured and Tenure Track faculty member will serve as your faculty advisor while you are in our program, in addition to the academic advisor you work with through the Academic Advising Office. WLC Japanese and Spanish faculty advisors are assigned by the first letter of your last name.
Office Hours
Faculty office hours are posted on office doors and in this GoogleDoc. The document is updated each semester.
Campus-Wide Department Affiliates
Sarah Dahlen is the Librarian for majors in the Department of World Languages and Cultures: Japanese Language and Culture, and Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures.
Teresa Nieves Espinoza is the Academic Advisor for Japanese Language and Culture and Spanish Language and Hispanic Cultures.
Amy Whitson is the Graduation Counselor for WLC majors and confirms they have fulfilled all requirements for graduation.
Shaun Levy is the Career Advisor for the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
Projects and Grants information
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The Monterey Bay World Language Project or MBWLP (formerly MBFLP) has its home in WLC, and is sponsored through the California World Language Project (CWLP) as part of the California Subject Matter Projects (CSMP). The project provides professional development opportunities for tri-county language teachers and professionals.