AIFS Partnership Programs: Faculty-Led Study Abroad Programs

Faculty Bios

Laura Sparks
Santa Rosa Junior College

Hello! I have always been passionate about sharing my love for astronomy with students, and I can’t wait to get started with you in Florence. I have taught astronomy at Santa Rosa Junior College for fifteen years. I completed my bachelor’s degree in Physics at Arizona State University and earned a master’s in Physics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. My graduate researched focused on high energy gamma ray astrophysics with the VERITAS gamma ray telescopes. I have also volunteered for the astronomy program at Bryce Canyon National Park, helping visitors from around the world understand and appreciate the wonders of the night sky.

Astronomy showcases the very best of humanity. Over the centuries, we have observed, worked together, gotten into fiery arguments, and continued to push the boundaries of human knowledge simply because we never grow out of being curious. Travel allows us to live the human stories behind all the great astronomical discoveries. I have personally visited many incredible astronomy sites from the Very Large Array in New Mexico to the ALMA telescopes high in the Atacama Desert in Chile. But of all the places I’ve visited, I’m most excited about Florence. Together, we will walk in the footsteps of Galileo as we explore the discoveries that changed the course of human history.

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Naomi Bahm
Los Rios Community College District

Welcome Florence Study Abroad students! My name is Naomi Bahm, and I have taught in the Psychology Department at Cosumnes River College (one of four colleges in the Los Rios Community College District in the Sacramento Area) since January 2013. My background is interdisciplinary- my BA was a double major in Biology and Psychology (from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN). I then served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the fisheries program in Cameroon, West Africa (teaching local farmers to raise Tilapia in derivation ponds) before heading to graduate school. I completed an MA and a PhD in Integrative Biology from UC Berkeley, where my dissertation research was conducted in the Psychology department. I used neuroscience methodology (EEG- electroencephalogram) combined with an assessment from developmental psychology (the Adult Attachment Interview). I am now also a certified trainer for the Adult Attachment Interview, and have co-hosted several two-week long training institutes in Canada, Australia, and the US, both in person and online.

I typically teach Biological Psychology (including labs), Research Methods, Developmental Psychology, Introductory Psychology, and Human Sexuality. In the past I have taught in the Biology departments of UC Berkeley and CA State University Sacramento, including Human Reproductive Biology and labs in Anatomy, Anatomy and Physiology, and Neuroanatomy (the brain and nervous system). I’m very excited to be teaching some of these classes in Italy, and I will strive to incorporate information, field trips, and local perspectives into all my classes to give students a more in-depth experience of Florence!

 

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Lisa Palmer
San Mateo County Community College District

In high school, Lisa Palmer studied abroad with our consortium partner, AIFS, visiting, in one month, five countries, twenty-five cathedrals, and fifteen museums. She returned to her hometown of Seattle with her mind blown open, which likely helped her get into Stanford, where she majored in English. She returned to live and work in Europe during and after college, and her wanderlust has also taken her to Central and South America; Fiji, Australia, and Japan; and, last summer, Scotland, where, with her daughters, she hiked the 100-mile West Highland Way before seeing Taylor Swift play Edinburgh. Lisa’s passion for learning about other cultures infuses her academic interests, as well. After Stanford, she earned an M.A. (Columbia University) in English and Comparative Literature, and a PhD (UCLA) in Comparative Literature, with a focus on Latin American, Italian, and American literatures.

Lisa has taught composition and literature for several decades, first as a graduate student at UCLA and then in the San Mateo Community College District. She was thrilled to teach with our program in Florence in 2011 and cannot wait to return to Florence in Spring 2026. As a former study abroad student, she knows that students would much rather explore the city than sit in a classroom, so she strives to make the city the classroom. She and her students will visit sites that are featured in the texts they read and go to places associated with the writers and film-makers they study. They will also blog, to describe, process, and share the life-changing experience that is studying abroad. Finally, Lisa’s courses are ZTC (Zero Textbook Cost), so students don’t have to pay for, or transport, textbooks.

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Nicole White
Contra Costa Community College District

Nicole White is a photography professor in the Art and Art Digital Media departments at DVC. She holds a BFA from Massachusetts College of Art in Photography, an MA in Art History from the University of Connecticut, and an MFA in Studio Art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Nicole has traveled extensively in the United States, Europe, and South America. Some of her recent trips include driving solo across the country (and back again), Paris and the French countryside, Santa Fe, New Orleans, and Boston. This will be her second time participating in the Study Abroad program in Florence, Italy. Traveling has become a way for her to better understand the world, to document the world through her camera, and to see artworks of all types in person. She is excited to teach in Florence again, a city overflowing with art and architecture that will become the backdrop for her photography and art history courses.