Maria Cecilia Simpson

Cecilia is a Spanish Instructor of the Modern Languages and Cultures Department, and the Spanish coordinator for second year studies. Her area of interest is foreign language pedagogy.

Cecilia is a native of Spain who was born and reared in the Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea. As a result of her upbringing, Cecilia was privileged from an early age to be exposed to the many languages and cultures of Central Africa and Western Europe. During her adult life Cecilia has lived and studied in several European countries to include England, Italy, and Spain. This rich cultural upbringing inspired her to combine her love of language and teaching to focus her efforts on the study of French and English, and later pursue undergraduate degrees in Italian Studies and in Spanish.

Cecilia ultimately earned a Master’s in Hispanic Studies from the University of Washington. Before joining Seattle University in 2011, Cecilia worked for two years as an English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor in the Idaho school system. Cecilia has more than 15 years’ experience in providing instruction and tutoring in three different languages (Spanish, English and Italian) at various levels.

Cecilia’s hobbies are studying different languages and travelling around the world meeting different people and experiencing new cultures. She also enjoys cycling, gardening and cooking tasty dishes from different cultures.