Claudia M. Acosta
Professor & Chair, Nicaragua
Claudia Acosta was born and raised in Nicaragua until the age of fourteen. She holds a doctorate from the Graduate School of Education and Psychology at Pepperdine University. Her dissertation is on the Role of International Education in California Community Colleges. She holds a Masters Degree in Hispanic Literatures from the University of California, Riverside and a Bachelors Degree from California State University, San Marcos in Liberal Arts and Broadcast Journalism and her undergraduate work is in the area of Humanities. She has participated in the programs of the Council for Latin American and Peninsular Studies of the International Area Studies Program at Yale University completing post-graduate courses in European Studies, Latin American literature, Films, and Second Language Acquisition.
Dr. Acosta is a tenured professor and chair of the Department of Modern Languages & Cultures at College of the Canyons (COC) since 1998. She founded and directed the Spanish Institute, a program designed for K-12 teachers that soon extended to other professions such as business, health, and public service areas. Dr. Acosta is co-author of three language publications. She has extensive experience teaching and developing interdisciplinary programs abroad (Spain and Portugal, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Ecuador and Central America). She served as the International Education Liaison for two years. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the College Planning Team and Education Travel Advisory Committee. She serves as president of the Santa Clarita Sister Cities and Santa Clarita Valley International Program (SCVIP) where she has been a member of the executive advisory board since 2003. Through this program she leads the global collaborative project (literacy and humanitarian efforts) developing partnerships at the local and international level.