Faculty and Staff

Latin and Spanish coordinator, Professor of Spanish

Email: ivonne.bruneau-botello@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-3993

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 412

Biography

Prof. Ivonne Bruneau-Botello has over 15 years of solid work experience in Spanish language curriculum development, research, and teaching. At the College, she served as department chair for three consecutive terms including the Humanities Department at TP/SS and the World Languages Philosophy Department at RV. She also served as the HSI Task Force’s co-chair, and the AY25’ HSI Advisory Team co-chair. Prof. Botello served at the TP/SS & RV Campus Councils, the Students Services & Success Council, the General Education Restructure and Transform Committee; the Closing the Achievement Gap Task Force Steering Committee, and the Collegewide general education review for World Languages, among other collegewide committees. She has worked at Montgomery College since 2006 joining first as part-time faculty and then as full-time faculty in 2011. She holds a Masters of Arts in SLAA – Spanish from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Cristina Butler

Arabic, Italian and Russian Coordinator, Professor of Spanish

Email: cristina.butler@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7389

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT-403

Biography

Professor Cristina D. Butler earned her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language, Literature and Cultures and her Master of Arts in Spanish Literature. She has taught at the University of Maryland as a teaching assistant, and as an adjunct professor at Trinity University in the District of Columbia. She has been teaching at Montgomery College since 2006, first as an adjunct professor and then joining the World Languages and Philosophy Department as an Assistant Professor in 2008. Her research interests include Spanish Caribbean and colonial and Latino literature.

Chris Collins

MA, West Chester University

Professor of Philosophy

Email: christopher.collins@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7427

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT-405

Biography

Professor Collins earned his M.A. in philosophy at West Chester University; he taught philosophy courses there as well as at Montgomery County Community college in Pennsylvania. He is interested in multiculturalism and specializes in the thought of John Dewey. Professor Collins also teaches at a local high school.

Ricky Cornish

Associate Professor, American Sign Language

Email: Ricky.Cornish@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location: Germantown Campus

Biography

Ricky Cornish joined Montgomery College as an Associate Professor in 2025, bringing over 15 years of experience in higher education and American Sign Language (ASL) education. He teaches ASL 1–5 and Deaf Community and Culture.

Born and raised in California in a Deaf family, Ricky graduated from the California School for the Deaf, Riverside, and earned both his BA in ASL and Master’s in Sign Language Education from Gallaudet University. Since 2013, he has taught a wide range of ASL courses at Gallaudet University and contributed to curriculum development for diverse learners.

After living in Washington, D.C. for over 20 years, Ricky now lives in Frederick, Maryland with his partner, Parker, and their two daughters. His professional goals include developing innovative ASL curricula, expanding learning opportunities, and fostering appreciation for Deaf language and culture.

In his free time, he enjoys disc golfing, bass fishing, traveling, cooking Cajun and Creole cuisine, and spending time with family.

Kately Demougeot

EdD

Professor of French

Email: kately.demougeot@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7424

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT-510

Christina Gentile

MA, Johns Hopkins University

Professor of Spanish and Italian

Email: christina.gentile@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7425

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT-609

Biography

Professor Gentile currently serves as the collegewide department chair for the General Studies program. She has worked at Montgomery College since 2007 joining first as part-time faculty and then as full-time faculty in 2010. She has taught all levels of Italian and Spanish at the Rockville campus and holds an M.A. in Romance Languages & Literature (Italian and Spanish) from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. with a double major in English Language & Literature and Romance Languages & Literatures (Italian and Spanish), as well as a citation in Renaissance studies, from University of Maryland at College Park. Professor Gentile is also a freelance translator and interpreter and has worked for various translation companies, including National Geographic Television and Film, the Library of Congress, and the United States Postal Service.

Michael Halischak

Assistant Professor, Coordinator and Advisor, American Sign Language

Email: michael.halischak@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 422

Tim McWhirter

PhD, Florida State University

Professor of Philosophy

Email: timothy.mcwhirter@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-8026

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT-404

Biography

Dr. McWhirter specializes in the philosophy of science, ethics, and nineteenth and twentieth century continental philosophy. He has published and presented work internationally and directed two grant funded research projects that focused on sustainability. Professor McWhirter holds a B. A. in philosophy from the University of South Florida and a Ph. D. in philosophy from Florida State University.

Auksuole Rubavichute

MA, University of Dallas

Philosophy Coordinator, Professor of Philosophy

Email: auksuole.rubavichute@montgomerycollege.edu

Phone: 240-567-7432

Office Location: Rockville Campus, MT 416

Biography

Professor Rubavichute has over 15 years of experience teaching the whole gamut of philosophy and government courses, ranging from Medieval Philosophy to Twentieth-Century Philosophy. She also specializes in ethics and contemporary law, as well as in logic and critical thinking. She earned an M.A. in political philosophy from the University of Dallas, and is currently finishing her dissertation: Aristotle and the Right to Revolution: A Reconsideration of Politics V in light of Nicomachean Ethics III, 1. Professor Rubavichute is expected to receive her Ph.D. from the University of Dallas in December 2016.

Part-time Faculty

Sean Blake

Email: Sean.Blake@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Prof. Blake has been teaching Deaf and hard-of-hearing students at a local public high school for more than 25 years. He has also served as an ASL instructor in a continuing professional development course fulfilling the State requirement for teachers to renew their licenses for 15 years in the same school district. A proud alumnus of a State-sponsored residential school for the Deaf, he is a native ASL signer and an active member of the Eastern Deaf Bikers. Prof. Blake enjoys spending quality time with his wife and two adult daughters. His research interests focus on American Sign Language and Deaf Studies.

Educational Background

MA, Secondary Education for the Deaf, Gallaudet University

BA, Deaf Studies, University of Arizona

Lori Britt

MS, McDaniel College

M.A., University of Kentucky

Email: Lori.Britt@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Educational Background

Bachelor's degrees in education and psychology from Gallaudet University

Master's degree in Deaf Education from McDaniel College

Erika Bucciantini

Part-time Professor of Latin

Office Location:

Biography

Erika was born and raised in Seattle, Washington and completed her B.A. in Humanities at Western Washington University. She minored in Latin, Greek, and Classical Studies and spent her summers working at Starbucks in downtown Seattle. Erika then moved to Kentucky to pursue a Masters in Classical Studies at the University of Kentucky and achieve additional certification from the Institute of Latin Studies. She has since lived in Virginia and Japan before moving into the area. Here at Montgomery College, Erika teaches English 101 & 102, Latin 101 & 102, moonlights as an ATPA embedded coach, and serves as Part-Time Faculty Associate and in this capacity looks forward to assisting part-time faculty, departments in her area, and the Part-Time Faculty Institute.

Educational Background

M.A., University of Kentucky
B.A., Western Washington University

Wesley Van Camp

Ph.D., University of Maryland

Part-time Professor of Philosophy

Email: Wesley.VanCamp@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Wesley Van Camp received Bachelor's degrees in both Philosophy and Physics from the University of Washington, while also spending a year studying at the University of Edinburgh. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Maryland. He is especially interested in philosophy of science and physics, but also ethics and many other areas of philosophy. He has been teaching philosophy in the DMV area since 2006.

Jin Choi

MA, Chonnam National University

Part-time Professor of Korean

Email: Jin.Choi@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Jin Choi has taught Korean at Montgomery College since 2014. She has served as the advisor for Korea Jjang (Korean Culture Club) and K-Talk (Korean Language Club) for 2015- 2020.

She earned her BS from University of Virginia in Electrical Engineering. In 2002, she traveled to Korea to teach English through the Korean government program EPIK (English Program in Korea). While in Korea, she earned her MA in Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language at Chonnam National University and went on to work on her PhD at Seoul National University where she has completed the course work in Teaching Korean as a Foreign Language with the concentration of Culture Education in the Language Classroom.

She enjoys sharing Korean culture through cooking, singing, playing traditional games, etc.

Ruby Costea

Part-time Professor of Chinese

Email: shuchuang.costea@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Maher Eshgi

PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Email: Maher.Eshgi@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Ben Fan

Part-time Professor of Philosophy

Email: Benjamin.Fan@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Tyrone Giordano

MA, California State University

Part-time Professor of Arabic

Email: Tyrone.Giordano@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Tyrone Giordano is new to Montgomery College and is delighted to be part of the teaching staff here. Tyrone earned his M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from California State University, Northridge, with concentrations in theatre and business management, and a B.A. in English from Gallaudet University.

Tyrone is no stranger to Montgomery County as he spent his adolescence here, attending the Montgomery Blair High School Magnet Program for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science before taking off on a career in the arts and languages, with ASL at the heart of all his work.

Tyrone has appeared on stage and screen, and also works behind the camera as a producer, director, and translator. For now, Tyrone is content with making the classroom a stage of sorts, and all of us players.

Kamal Hadine

Email: Kamal.Hadine@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Hyewon Hargrave

M.S., Central Connecticut State University

Part-time Professor of Korean

Email: Hyewon.Hargrave@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Has taught Korean language at Montgomery College since 2015
Teaching all levels of Korean courses to the US diplomats at the Distance Language Learning Program, FSI since 2016
Previously, taught the Korean language to the US militaries in DLIFLC (CA & NE) as an assistant professor, and at Wesleyan University in CT.
Designed and developed instructional RC and LC materials, and DLPT for the US military linguists at NFLC, University of Maryland

Educational Background

M.S. in TESOL, Central Connecticut State University (CT)
M.A. in English Linguistics, In-Ha University (South Korea)
B.A. in English Language Education, In-Ha University (South Korea)

Milvia Hernández

Office Location:

Educational Background

MA, University of Maryland, College Park
BA, Universidad de la Costa in Barranquilla, Colombia

Biography

Milvia Hernández has taught at Montgomery College since 2020 and having previously taught in 2009 and 2018. In addition, she teaches at UMBC intermediate courses. At MC she teaches elementary 1 Spanish courses. She has been teaching for 23 years Spanish as a second language and as a heritage language.

Professor Hernandez earned her BA in Educational Psychology from Universidad de la Costa in Barranquilla, Colombia. Then, moved to USA and earned MA in Second Language Acquisition and Application from University of Maryland College Park. In 2022 earned a Graduate Certificate in Language Teaching with Technology from University of Colorado- Boulder. Her research focuses Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) on Team Based Learning (TBL) to enhance the students’ language learning not only for second language learners but also for heritage speakers.

When not in teaching, she loves cooking, walking with her dog and watching movies and series.

Magnus Ask Jensen

Part-time Professor of German

Email: MagnusAsk.Jensen@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Sun Young Kim

PhD, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

Part-time Professor of Korean

Email: SunYoung.Kim@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Sun Young Kim taught Korean at Seoul National University and Yonsei University in Korea from 2015 to 2022, and has been teaching Korean at Montgomery College since 2024.

Educational Background

Bachelor's degree in Psychology, Korean Language and Literature, Art History in Ewha University, Seoul, Korea
Master's degree in Education of Korean language in Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
PhD degree in Korean Studies in Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

Charlotte King

Doctor of Modern Languages, Middlebury College

Part-time Professor of French and Spanish

Office Location:

Educational Background

Doctor of Modern Languages, Middlebury College
Diplôme Supérieur du Français des Affaires (Business French Diploma), Chambre de Commerce de Paris
2-week Seminar (Spanish for Business), University of S. Carolina, Columbia
Many seminars and four Studies Abroad to France

Sagar Kothari

MS, Moscow State Pedagogical University

Email: Sagar.Kothari@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Lidia Krasnov

Part-time Professor of Russian

Email: Lidia.Krasnov@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Lidia Krasnov is an Adjunct Two Plus Russian Language and Culture Professor with 38 years of outstanding teaching experience working alongside the World Language and Philosophy Department last 14 years.
By focusing on teaching Russian Language and Culture, Lidia has been able to put her Master’s Degree in teaching which she earned at Moscow State Pedagogical University to good use. Lidia is responsible for educating her students on using Russian Language in four different ways, including speaking, reading, listening and writing. Lidia is a powerful force in the area of teaching foreign languages and uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage students to work hard and successful.
Lidia is inspired daily by her husband and their two adult daughters. In her free time, Lidia likes to hike with her Labrador Maya, visit her favorite sport club, play the piano, travel during her college breaks and read many books with her grandson.

Josh Lothridge

Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

Email: Josh.Lothridge@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Samantha Mattocci

Part-time Professor of Italian

Office Location:

Biography

Dr. Mattocci holds a Ph.D. in Italian from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a M.A. in Italian Language and Literature from the University of Pisa (Italy). Prior to joining Montgomery College in 2021, she taught Italian language classes in the Department of French and Italian and the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include medieval Italian literature and textual criticism.

Educational Background

Ph.D. in Italian from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A. in Italian Language and Literature, the University of Pisa (Italy).

Jackson Monzon

PhD, University of Maryland, College Park

Email: Jackson.Monzon@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Olga Morozova

MA, Carnegie Mellon University

Email: Olga.Morozova@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Jacob Neider

Part-time Professor of Japanese

Email: Jacob.Neider@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Jake Neider has been teaching at Mongomery College since 2021. He graduated from BYU-Idaho with a BS in Psychology and Carnegie Mellon with a MA in Applied Second Language Acquisition. He’s lived in Maryland for most of his life with short stints out of state for school.

Teaching Philosophy

Internalizing learning the language is his main goal. To do this he has students do a few things. Speaking Japanese in class as much as possible by creating their own sentences using constructs we’ve learned in throughout the semester. Learning how to learn languages-going over different strategies together for learning Japanese until we find one that fits each student. Using authentic media to show students how to learn outside of the textbook.

Valerie Tanner

MA, New York University

Chinese, French, Japanese and Korean Coordinator, Part-time Professor of French

Email: valerie.tanner@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Professor Tanner began teaching French at Montgomery College in 2009, and enjoys teaching a variety of courses from FREN101 through FREN202, as well as French Conversation & Grammar and Advanced French. She holds an M.A. in International Education from New York University and a B.A. in French and Education from SUNY and the Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Prior to teaching, she worked for major corporations in the U.S. and Canada, based in Manhattan and at the United Nations, and continues to freelance as a translator and interpreter. Professor Tanner has a passion for global education, and loves introducing her students to the Francophone culture and language, and to the many doors that can be opened by speaking another language.

Teaching Philosophy

Making the language come alive, making it real, is the best way to summarize my teaching philosophy. Whether through impromptu dialogues, cultural presentations, famous quotations, or listening to music lyrics, my goal is that students create connections and realize the practical benefits and fun of cultural understanding and learning the language.

Nobue Yamabayashi

MS, Oklahoma State University

Part-time Professor of Japanese

Email: Nobue.Yamabayashi@montgomerycollege.edu

Office Location:

Biography

Nobue Yamabayashi started teaching at the Montgomery College in 2024.

She teaches Elementary Japanese I (JAPN 101). Nobu speaks mostly in Japanese in classes to give students maximum exposure to the language and encourages them to practice Japanese often. She conducts group work activities during the class, so students have ample time to speak and listen to Japanese.

Nobu was born and grew up in Shizuoka prefecture, Japan. After graduating from community college in Shizuoka, she came to the US to study abroad and received BA in Communication Arts and MS in Occupational and Adult Education in Oklahoma. She has worked at universities in Japan for 10 years to help international students.

Iris Zavala

MA, Valencian International University