Faculty

upcoming program faculty:

London 2020:

Professor David Betancourt will be teaching Music 104B, "History of Rock Music." This course introduces students to rock and its influence on American popular music. The students will learn how to actively engage with music by relating rock to other styles of music, relating music to text, and relating rock to its cultural context. 

3 units
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC
Fulfills Plan B (CSU) -- C: Fine Arts (1.) requirement
Fulfills Plan C (IGETC) -- Area 3: Arts (A.) requirement

David Betancourt has been the Director of Bands at Cerritos College in Norwalk, California since 1998. He is the conductor for the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Pep Band, Pop/Rock Ensemble and facilitates the Cerritos College Drumline. Dr. Betancourt was recognized as Outstanding Faculty in 2015 and Most Outstanding Faculty in 2016. In addition to his career as a conductor and music educator, Dr. Betancourt travels internationally as a creative and dynamic educational consultant to promote pedagogical excellence within multiple teaching and learning environments. Dr. Betancourt holds a DMA in music education from the University of Southern California, an MM in instrumental conducting from Northern Arizona University, and a BM in music education and performance from Berklee College of Music. Dr. Betancourt is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Pi Kappa Lambda Honor Society, NAfME, CBDNA, CMEA, CBDA, ITG, CMS, SCSBOA, the Professional Organizational Development Network, and 4CSD. He is Past President of the Music Association of California Community Colleges (MACCC), and the Chair of the Board for the California Community College Council on Staff Development.

Professor Brandt Reiter will be teaching Theater 102, "History of the Classical Theater." This course is designed to introduce the student to the history and literature of the theatre from ancient times to the English Restoration. The role of theatre in human affairs will be explored, and particular attention will be given to the way theatre shapes-and is shaped by-the cultural, intellectual, and political forces of its time. 

3 units
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC
Fulfills Plan B (CSU) -- C: Fine Arts (1.) requirement
Fulfills Plan C (IGETC) -- Area 3: Arts (A.) requirement

Brandt Reiter is a teacher, director, performance coach, actor, journalist, editor and playwright, and has been Assistant Professor of Theatre at Cerritos since Fall 2016. He has directed for the stage in New York and Los Angeles; his acclaimed NY production of Vieux Carré was selected as the centerpiece of the 2014 Provincetown International Tennessee Williams Festival. Brandt has served as Chair of Playwriting for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, and for five years was a contributing jazz critic at Los Angeles' LA WEEKLY (where he also weighed in on everything from (a)rchitecture to (z)en and the art of motorcycle riding). In addition, Brandt has written about music for the Village Voice, All About Jazz and The New York Jazz Record, and is currently Editor of Parodos, the journal of the National Alliance of Acting Teachers, of which he is a founding member. A world traveler, Brandt has motorcycled through forty-five out of fifty United States, spent a year in Paris and voyaged everywhere from Buenos Aires to Hong Kong, from Easter Island to Istanbul. As an avid theater-goer, Brandt has gorged on stage productions in London four times in the last three years, and is looking forward to showing Cerritos students this most wonderful city he has gotten to know very well. Brandt previously taught Theatre at CUNY Queens College and the University of New Haven, and Film Theory at SUNY Westchester; he can also be found teaching acting, improvisation, and voice in Beijing, China from time-to-time. Brandt is a proud, longtime member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Education: MFA, Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College; Certificate, Film Theory and Criticism, Sorbonne, Paris; BA, American Studies, Temple University.

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Past Program Faculty:

Florence 2019:

Dr. Lisa Boutin-Vitela has taught Art History at Cerritos College since 2012. Previously, she was a lecturer at UCLA, Loyola Marymount, and California State University, Long Beach. She received her Ph.D. in Art History from UCLA with an emphasis on Italian Renaissance art. Lisa has lived in Rome as a study-abroad student and has spent long periods of time in Mantua and Florence conducting dissertation research. Lisa looks forward to introducing students to Italian culture and teaching the ART 102 course through on-site visits to Florence's churches, palaces, piazzas, and museums. 

In Summer 2019, she taught:

ART 102: Art History II Renaissance to Rococo (3 units)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC
Fulfills Plan B (CSU) -- C: Fine Arts (1.) requirement
Fulfills Plan C (IGETC) -- Area 3: Arts (A.) requirement
Recommendation: ENGL 52, or ENGL 72 or ESL 152 and READ 54 or READ 97 or equivalent with grades of Pass or "C" or higher. 
Description: This course covers art and its role in human affairs from the Renaissance to the Rococo with an emphasis on giving students an understanding of all of the visual arts. It is designed to be of interest and value to the art and non-art major alike.

Dr. Steve Clifford has taught at Cerritos College since August 2003. His Ph.D. is from the University of Washington (Seattle), where he studied gender theory, modernism, and 20th century British and American literature. He spent the 2015-2016 academic year on a research sabbatical, gathering information to create and implement a study abroad program at Cerritos College, researching prospective sites for the program pilot in Dublin, Paris, and Florence. Steve is eager to encourage students to study literature and develop their writing skills as they encounter new global cultures and broaden their understanding of those cultures through academic travel.

In summer 2019, he taught (students may enroll in either of these but not both):

ENGL 102: Introduction to Literature (3 units)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC
Fulfills Plan B (CSU) – C.2. Humanities requirement
Fulfills Plan C (IGETC) – Area 3.B. Humanities requirement
Prerequisite: Completion of English 100 with a grade of “C” or higher, or “pass,” or the equivalent.
Course Description: This course introduces representative works from major genres, develops students’ close reading and analytical writing skills, and promotes appreciation and critical understanding of the cultural, historical, and aesthetic qualities of literature as produced by authors who reflect culturally diverse backgrounds.

ENGL 110: Critical Thinking Through Literature (4 units)
Transfer Credit: CSU; UC
Fulfills Plan B (CSU) -- A.3. Critical Thinking requirement
Fulfills Plan C (IGETC) – Area 1.B. Critical Thinking—English Composition requirement
Prerequisite: Completion of English 100 with a grade of “C” or higher, or “pass,” or the equivalent.
Course Description: In this course, students apply critical thinking skills, close textual analysis, and research practices in writing analytic, argumentative essays about literary fiction, poetry, and drama.