Faculty Directors play a central role at Study Abroad UC San Diego, which includes UC Education Abroad Programs (UCEAP), Opportunities Abroad Programs (OAP), and UC San Diego faculty-led Global Seminars.
Faculty Directors support Study Abroad staff in administrative and academic matters, engage in special projects and campus outreach, and assist students in achieving their goals of studying abroad.
Matthew Herbst is the Faculty Director of the Making of the Modern World general education program at UC San Diego’s Eleanor Roosevelt College. He also teaches in Environmental Studies and holds affiliate appointments in History and Classical Studies. He has led 14 programs abroad (ten undergraduate world history programs, two international service programs, and two programs for secondary educators) as well as 22 experiential humanities programs in the deserts and mountains of California. To learn more, see: https://ucsdherbst.org
Alison Wishard Guerra joined the UCSD Education Studies faculty in 2005 after completing a Ph.D. and MA at UCLA and her B.A. at UC Santa Cruz in Latin American Studies and Psychology. She teaches courses on early childhood development and education, cognitive development, culture and developmental theory, quantitative research methodology, dissertation writing seminar, and research on curriculum design. Her research interests include cultural practices and development, educational equity, story telling, pretend play, attachment relationships, family immigration experiences, and parenting practices.
Wishard Guerra developed a passion for Latin American culture when she studied abroad for the first time in high school and has lived, studied, and traveled in 12 countries in Latin America. It was during these experiences abroad that she became fascinated with the intersection of culture, language, and child development. She enjoys working with immigrant families in the United States as they learn to raise their children in a cultural community very different from their own.
Alison’s current research project integrates teaching, research, and service, working closely with a team of undergraduate research assistants in The Mi Clase Mágica Preschool Project. She enjoys working closely with undergraduates students in applied settings, developing new opportunities to support young children’s language and school readiness skills.
