Faculty & Staff

Geno Carr, a San Diego based actor, singer, director and educator, originated the role of Oz & Others in the Tony and Olivier Award-winning hit musical Come From Away. He has appeared Off-Broadway, on five national tours and in over one hundred plays and musicals across North America.

He was an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Guest Artist at Stephens College; served on the faculties of Grossmont College, MiraCosta College; and taught on three voyages with Semester at Sea. He has also served as a speaker coach for Google and TedX.

Geno holds an MFA in Acting and Directing from Sarah Lawrence College, a dual BA in Music and Theatre from Hartwick College, and is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. www.GenoCarr.com @GenoCarr

Cathleen is a psychologist interested in how individual differences (e.g. race, gender) and social contexts (e.g. culture, work) come together to shape human development and well-being. She has experience researching and teaching a broad range of topics including leadership, diversity, equity, and inclusion; and social, political, and positive psychology. Her research has been published broadly in both academic and popular press venues.

She has taught courses at the University of Michigan and the Center for Creative Leadership. She is currently the Senior Director of Research at Candid (a research nonprofit), and an Affiliated Research Scientist at the Center for Effective Organizations at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Stuart Cottrell is a professor of Sustainable Tourism at Colorado State University. His research focus includes sustainable tourism development – linking tourism, nature conservation and protected areas; collaborative conservation and protected area management; and perceptions of landscape disturbance – implications for human dimensions of natural resources, recreation and tourism. He conducted research in Argentina, Colorado, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Panama, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and Uruguay. These interdisciplinary efforts contribute broadly to the fields of tourism development in natural resources. He teaches courses in sustainable tourism development, ecotourism, social science research in natural resources and international issues in recreation and tourism.

Philip Hörhager is excited to serve on SAS again and teach MGT 411 Leading High Performance Teams.

Philip has a background in aerospace engineering and management. Throughout his career, he has collaborated with and lead high performing teams, in roles including Director of Engineering, Head of PMO, and Program Manager, for innovative aerospace, R&D, and tech companies in the US and abroad.

Philip hugely enjoys mentoring and coaching students during SAS voyages. He has taught project management and leadership classes in various organizations and study abroad programs. His research includes human factors in aviation, and he runs a consulting company that focuses on project management, organizational communication, leadership and team training.

Dr. Jean Ippolito is a Professor and Art Historian to a very diverse body of students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. This is her second time to teach on a Semester at Sea voyage; the first was in Fall 2011.

After completing her Ph. D., Jean Ippolito taught a combination of art history and computer art at colleges in Savannah, Georgia and Georgetown, Kentucky. In 2003, she accepted a tenure-track position at the University of Hawaii in Hilo. Fortunately, some of the experimental artists that she studied earlier, were now internationally recognized for their achievements, and so she began to publish articles, and a book, on the pioneering digital media artists of Japan. More recently she has written about contemporary artists of China that use digital technology in their work.

A specialist in community literacy studies, Dr. Jacobi teaches courses in public writing, composition theory, feminist methodologies, critical pedagogy, and literacy theory. She is the director of the Community Literacy Center which sponsors weekly “SpeakOut!” community writing workshops. Her research focuses on the complexities of moving adult literacy beyond the GED, the ethics of community-university relationships, and incarcerated women writers as activists. She has published on prison writing, community service learning and activism in the writing classroom, rhetorics and archives, and the ethics of university-community collaborations in journals such as English Journal, Community Literacy Journal, and The Journal of Correctional Education and co-edited Women, Writing, and Prison.

Dr. Jen Johnson is a faculty member in the School of Education and the Director of the Office for Student Leadership, Involvement, and Community Engagement (SLiCE) at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. She has worked in higher education for more than 20 years and has taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in Education, Leadership, Service-Learning, and Student Affairs.

Born and raised in a small college town in central Iowa, Dr. JJJ’s passion for travel and learning about other cultures and communities stemmed from her 2-year experience living overseas as a United State Peace Corps Volunteer in The Gambia, West Africa. Since that time, she has been fortunate to travel across 5 continents.

Dr. Khrebtan-Hörhager is a professor of communication, director of the ACT International Human Rights Film Festival, and a holder of four International Communication Association Top Paper Awards. Her research, teaching, and consulting interests are in intercultural communication, European studies, global conflict, Othering, cinematography and critical media studies. Feminist studies and business leadership are her further foci. She is the author of two books, Communicating the Other across Cultures; and Migrant World Making, and a wide variety of articles and book chapters. She is an education abroad director in Italy. Julia is fluent in seven languages and is often called “a cultural mentor” and “an intercultural ambassador” by her colleagues, and current and former students.

Dr. Romel Mackelprang has been involved in human and disability rights for four decades. In the 2000’s he began working in sub–Saharan Africa, and, in 2010 he and his family founded Access without Borders (AWB) a 501(c)3 to invest in health, access, and education opportunities for people in Africa. He has developed and administered a five country African research project studying the efficacy of donated wheelchairs. He has organized and led several university-based, service-learning study abroad programs to Ghana; the next study abroad scheduled for summer 2023.

Sam is a Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Kenyon College. His research interests address the relationship between media and culture and specifically focus on an anthropological approach to the production and reception of television, film, photographs, and new media. He has authored almost fifty articles as well as two book manuscripts and three ethnographic films. Sam teaches a wide variety of courses in cultural anthropology, visual anthropology, narrative history, Native American Studies, and Asian Studies. He possesses significant experience teaching overseas, having held visiting appointments at universities and research institutes in 12 different countries. Currently, Sam is a Fulbright Senior Scholar at National Dong Hwa University in Taiwan.

Dr. Jana Raadik Cottrell is an Assistant Professor, University Honors Program at Colorado State University (CSU) and senior lecturer at Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia with over 20 years of international experience in teaching and academic collaboration in hospitality, tourism development and natural resource management. Her research focuses on sustainable tourism development on islands, place identity, second home ownership and flexible work. Jana values knowledge gained through the diversity of human experiences and ways of living and appreciates the opportunity to share her passion in arts, food and travel with her students. She is also the coordinator of the West Estonian Archipelago Biosphere Reserve.

Dr. George Salembier is Associate Professor Emeritus, College of Education and Social Services at the University of Vermont (UVM), where he most recently served as Chairperson of the Department of Education. His scholarship and teaching focus on special education and inclusion, cognition and learning, adolescent literacy, curriculum and assessment, the social construction of disability, and multi-cultural education.
Since retiring from the University of Vermont in 2018, he has been consulting on strategy for the “Inclusive School Project in Ghana,” the goal of which is to build the nation’s first school for children with disabilities.
He currently serves as a Board Member for the Vermont Partnership for Literacy and Learning and as a Mentor in the local school system.

Dr. Bonnie Simpson is Associate Professor, DAN Department of Management & Organizational Studies and is a consumer researcher – aiming to make the world a little bit of a better place through understanding why consumers act as we do. She’s most interested in how and why individuals engage in prosocial actions such as sustainable behaviours, charitable giving, and purchasing that supports social good. Her teaching often focuses in these areas – introducing students to marketing concepts that focus on how marketing shapes and is shaped by non-profits, sustainability, and the consumer’s daily life. Bonnie has studied and taught in countries around the world and loves how an international classroom brings new perspectives into collaborative applied learning.

Diego Vega is a proud citizen of Costa Rica and will be happy to share his views about the political, economic, and cultural landscape of his own country. Spanish is his first language. He has had the privilege of sailing as a faculty member with Semester at Sea in Fall 2016, Spring 2018, Fall 2019 (interport lecturer for Costa Rica), and Spring 20223. He understands culture and ethnicity through experience.
He is a Psychology professor and a holds a full-time private practice in Costa Rica.
As a practicing couples’ therapist for more than 20 years, he has work with many Costa Rican and U.S. couples living in Costa Rica. His research interests include: trust issues in romantic relationships, understanding culture and ethnicity, aging, and bilingualism.

Dr. Melissa Wdowik is a nationally recognized registered dietitian with over 20 years’ experience as a university professor. She has received many teaching awards and is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor helping students develop a passion for culinary nutrition and healthy lifestyles.

She has experience ranging from coaching the pit crews of Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon to creating a podcast with Elle Fanning to being published in the Washington Post. She founded and directed a successful nutrition outreach center at Colorado State University and authored the book Eat to Defeat Viruses.

Professor Wdowik sailed with SAS in 2018 and looks forward to again promoting cultural competence with contemporary nutrition and sustainable farm-to-table practices.

Spencer Hudec is from a multi-generation military family that settled in San Antonio, TX early on in her childhood. Since then, she has always been afflicted by wanderlust. Her independent nature and desire to learn have prompted living in six states across the U.S. and multiple solo adventures both domestically and abroad. She has spent nearly ten years post-masters at a number of institutions including University of Virginia and most recently, Purdue University where she serves as the Associate Director for Risk Management in Fraternity, Sorority and Cooperative Life.

Stephanie Starks is a Clinical Social Worker and has been a private practice counselor working with college students for most of her career. She is excited to go on her second SAS voyage, having sailed as a student on the Spring 2016 voyage. She is excited to join as a counselor on the Medical/Health team to help students have the best possible experience.

She has a passion for working with young adults and helping them explore the world around them. Stephanie has a philosophy and practice of acceptance, compassion, and support for those she serves while providing an emotionally safe and respectful environment.
Stephanie is looking forward to sailing again and joining the entire Spring 2023 SAS community.

Cindy is very excited to join everyone on the Spring ’23 Voyage (her 10th Semester at Sea Voyage)! Cindy sailed initially as an RD in the Fall of 1986 and since then, has sailed as the Dean of Student Life on 6 Voyages, the Lifelong Learner Coordinator on Spring 2015, and most recently as a member of the Voyage Administration on Spring 2022 (in both Academic Affairs and Student Life). She has worked at the University of San Francisco, Humboldt State University, Stony Brook University, the University of Iowa, and Colorado College (in Residential Life/Student Affairs) to name a few. Recently, she’s been a Counselor at a High School for several years and currently works in the Semester at Sea Home Office as one of the Student Support Services Advisors.