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
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:
Dr. Christine Fernández, Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures, UC Santa Barbara; Associate Professor of Spanish Language and Latin American Culture and Literature: Spanish Faculty Advisor for Students with Last Names Starting with A – F
Dr. Carolyn González, Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures, UC Los Angeles; Associate Professor of Spanish and Chicanx Literature: Spanish Faculty Advisor for Students with Last Names Starting with G – L
Dr. Rebecca Pozzi, Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics with an emphasis in Second Language Acquisition, UC Davis; Associate Professor of Spanish Language and Linguistics: Spanish Faculty Advisor for Students with Last Names Starting with M – R
Dr. David Vila Diéguez, Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies, Vanderbilt University; Assistant Professor of Spanish Language and Peninsular Literature and Culture: Spanish Faculty Advisor for Students with Last Names Starting with S – Z
Dr. Yoshiko Saito-Abbott, Ph.D. in Education: Foreign and Second Language Acquisition, The Ohio State University; Professor of Japanese Language: Japanese Faculty Advisor for Students with Last Names Starting with A – H
Dr. Dustin Wright, Ph.D. in History, UC Santa Cruz; Department Chair and Associate Professor of Japanese Culture and Language: Japanese Faculty Advisor for Students with Last Names Starting with I – Z
Office Hours
Faculty office hours are posted on office doors and in .
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 that they have fulfilled all graduation requirements.
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 () as part of the California Subject Matter Projects (). The project provides professional development opportunities for tri-county language teachers and professionals.