AIFS Partnership Programs: Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs

Northern California Study Abroad Consortium

Northern California Study Abroad Consortium
not your school?

Barcelona, Spain

Fall 2025

Faculty Bios

Danielle King
Santa Rosa Junior College

Hello future study abroad students! My name is Danielle King, and I’ve been a biology instructor at Santa Rosa JC since 2003. I completed my bachelor’s degree in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution at UC San Diego and earned a master’s in Wildlife Biology from Humboldt State University. My graduate research focused on roosting ecology of bats in old-growth redwood forests. Bats are the coolest animals on the planet, and I’ll find a way to incorporate them into every class I teach. I’ll also recommend a weekend trip to Valencia, where bat symbols are found on everything from firetrucks to manhole covers to the Mestalla Stadium (home of Valencia Club de Fútbol).

During my 21 years at SRJC I’ve taught a variety of biology courses, from Anatomy to Zoology. My favorite teaching assignments have been abroad in Florence, Italy as well as Costa Rica, where I was very fortunate to teach Tropical Biodiversity and Conservation for several summer programs. During the summer of 2007 I met a wonderful host family in Santa Bárbara de Heredia. We’ve kept in touch for 17 years now, and I return every few summers to visit and travel with them. Now you have the incredible opportunity to live with a host family of your own, building connections that can last a lifetime.

In addition to teaching abroad, I have traveled to Australia, Fiji, France, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, Mexico, Argentina, Uruguay, Panama, and Ireland. I am eagerly preparing for a new adventure with all of you: bringing my family along to live, learn, and explore in Barcelona!


Philip Angove
Los Rios Community College District

Hello, I am Philip Angove and I am extraordinarily excited to be participating in the Study Abroad program in Barcelona during the Fall 2025 semester. The opportunity to share my love of Barcelona with students is thrilling, and I hope you join us as we explore the culture of this truly World-class city! With architecture and visual arts known throughout the world thanks to Gaudí, Picasso and other famous Barcelonans, the music scene and nightlife are equally impressive and ready for you to explore. All of the music classes will afford opportunities to attend live performances at local concert halls, music venues, chapels, and clubs. Even the streets of Barcelona are overflowing with great music, as the city hires municipal musicians to perform throughout the city!

In addition to the music itself, we will have the opportunity to explore the cultural and social conditions that interfaced with the artists and helped influence their creations. Particularly in Catalonia, the deep sense of culture and identity informed the music, art, and literature, and we will learn about these reciprocal influences. After 25 years of teaching music, and over 35 as a musician, I am bursting with anticipation to share this unique semester with you!


Judith Hunt
San Mateo Community College District

My love of travel began at a young age, traveling with my parents and sibling exploring various parts of the world. These experiences collectively impressed on me the wonders of other cultures and the unique learning that came with living somewhere different.  As I got older, my love of travel and exploring continued. In high school I studied in Spain, continued to travel, went to graduate school in Canada, continuously grabbing opportunities to study and research abroad all the way through my Ph.D. program. One of my early teaching assignments was at Versailles, where I lived in Paris, and developed my appreciation and understanding of the intersection of European and US history.

For the last six years I have spent summers in Barcelona with my own family, using it as a perfect launch pad to travel through Europe. These earlier experiences living and learning abroad continue to inform my everyday life.


Ruth Miller
Contra Costa Community College District

Ruth Miller began teaching full-time with Diablo Valley College's Humanities department in 2002, after having taught as an adjunct at DVC and throughout the Bay Area since 1997. She has studied at Western Kentucky University, Studio Arts Center International (Florence, Italy), the San Francisco Art Institute, and completed graduate work in the Humanities at San Francisco State University and in the History of Art and Architecture at UC Santa Barbara. Miller has taught the full range of Humanities offerings at DVC, and she is an advocate for the kind of interdisciplinary and integrative approach to the arts that the Humanities provide. She is a study abroad enthusiast who first caught the bug accompanying her high school art class on a journey through Europe. As a DVC faculty member, she has participated in the NCSAC’s Florence 2011 program and its London 2016 program, and she could not be more excited about her next adventure with Barcelona 2025. Outside of her study abroad teaching, Miller has traveled extensively throughout Europe, West and South Africa, the Pacific Basin and parts of South and Central America.