FACULTY & Staff

Dr. Ann Lutterman-Aguilar,

Mexico Site Director and Global Faculty

lutterma@augsburg.edu 

Ann (she/her/hers) earned her Doctorate in International Feminist Theologies from the San Francisco Theological Seminary, which is part of the Graduate Theological Union at the University of California-Berkeley.  She previously earned a Masters in Divinity (M.Div.), with a focus on Latin American Liberation Theologies from Yale University and her B.A. in Peace and Global Studies from Earlham College after also having studied at Oberlin College & Music Conservatory. 

Ann extended her study of religious diversity to other forms of cultural diversity, completing a certificate program in Intercultural Communication in 2000.  In 2014 she was certified as a Qualified Administrator of the Intercultural Development Inventory.  In 2019 she became a Qualified Facilitator of the Global Competence Certificate. Most recently, she completed a Diploma in Media Studies.

Prior to joining the CGEE-Mexico staff in 1993, Ann worked as a campus minister at Penn State University and in a refugee camp in El Salvador during the revolution there.  Her experience also includes anti-war activism and volunteer work with HIV/AIDS patients, in homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, and a rape crisis center.

Ann's primary academic interests are in the areas of religion and social change, gender studies, intercultural communication, and experiential education.  She enjoys hiking, reading, singing, playing with her black lab, and participating in community organizations that empower women. Ann is proudly a dual citizen of Mexico and the U.S.A.

Ann is involved in the overall administration and curriculum development for the CGEE-Mexico site, as well as partnerships with Mexico univerisites, schools and other roganizations so that our  students can complete international internships and student teaching. She also teaches courses in Intercultural Communication, Religion, and Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.  In the summer she teaches a hybrid online course and oversees the Mexico programs and works with short-term educational groups. She also serves as the primary liaison for Spanish classes at the UNIVERSAL Center for Language and Social Communication, so she can help you with questions about your Spanish courses. 

Fatima Mendoza, 

Program Coordinator & Global Faculty 

mendoza@augsburg.edu

Fatima Mendoza (she/her/hers) is the newest member of Augsburg's CGEE-Mexico team, having officially started on January 1, 2022. She will be coordinating your urban homestays, helping Antonio Ortega to set up the internships and medical observerships, and assisting with a variety of other tasks. She teaches BIO 118 (Environmental Biology) during the semester programs and often teaches or co-teaches the Internship seminar. 

Fátima was born in Mexico City. When she was ten, she moved to Cuernavaca, where she grew up surrounded by beautiful green spaces with lots of ecological diversity.  She attended a Montessori school, where aside from the usual school subjects, she was introduced to a very conscious education, developing vegetable gardens, learning how to compost, developing habits such as waste separation, cultivating interest in these subjects, that endure until now.

She decided to study a degree in Environmental Science because this career had a social and interdisciplinary approach. She studied an Environmental Science Bachelor and then got a Master’s degree in Teaching of Science (biology) both at UNAM Campus Morelia.

In 2016, she had a great opportunity to do an internship with Dr. Peter Mclaren at Chapman University in Orange, California, where she included the Critical Pedagogy perspective in the Ecopedagogy framework of her master’s thesis Project.

She has focused on developing projects related to Education for Sustainability and the divulgation of science. She has also worked at a children’s museum in Guadalajara where she was in charge of the science divulgation and content development area.  In 2018 she won a fellowship to do an intensive internship at Pavilhão do Conhecimento Science Museum in Lisbon Portugal.

She is also the mother of a very active 10-year-old child, and she’s very passionate about exploring landscapes and new places with him. She recently came back to Cuernavaca and joined the CGEE team. She is very excited to join the place where she can do what she enjoys the most and collaborate towards building transformative and significant education processes. 

Antonio Ortega,

Program Coordinator and Global Faculty 

ortega@augsburg.edu 

Antonio (he/him/his) is ABD (all but dissertation) in History at the Colegio de Morelos. He earned his Masters degree in History at the Colegio de Morelos and his Licenciatura in Accounting at La Salle University in Mexico City. Antonio is a Certified Public Accountant who worked for several years in the Mexican stock market.  However, he wasn’t happy wearing a suit and tie or living in Mexico City.  He then went to Oxford, England, where he studied English, but after a year he felt homesick, so he moved to Cuernavaca, where he has lived happily ever after since 1990.  

Prior to joining CGEE in January of 2003, Antonio spent several years teaching English and working at CETLALIC Alternative Spanish School, where he promoted the school and coordinated the Gay and Lesbian Studies Program.  In 1999, Antonio received a Teaching Certificate from the Anglo American School.  

Antonio is also a founder and active member of Grupo CD4, a non-profit organization devoted to fighting AIDS through sexual education.  His primary academic interests are LGBT issues, literature, and history.  He enjoys traveling, movies, reading, and writing.  

He is happy to report that after 22 years with his partner Eduardo, they were married in Mexico City in the summer of 2014, as new laws providing social security for same-sex couples were passed earlier the same year.  

Antonio teaches the HIS/WST course "Queer Histories in Latin America" and the POL/WST course "(Im)Migration, Gender, & Social Change and sometimes teaches or co-teaches the internship seminar course, . He maintains and develops close relationships with community partners in order to arrange fieldwork, internships, and student teaching opportunities for our students.  He also works with short-term faculty-led courses to Chiapas, Mexico City, Oaxaca, and other locations.

Diana González Vázquez

International Resident Assistant

Photographer and artist, Diana studied Design and Visual Communication at UNAM, specializing in Audiovisual and Multimedia. She loves photography, animation, and experimenting with media. She also developed a great interest in semiotics and linguistics. 

She is about to finish a work year as an event photographer in Jardines de México, where she learned marketing and social abilities.

Additionally, she studied music in Centro Morelense de las Artes for 6 years, specializing in music composition, but having to interrupt her studies because of the pandemic. Diana has been singing in diverse choirs and acapella ensembles for 10 years, and participated in several festivals, national and international. The most recent was in Manizales, Colombia. Being in the choirs has allowed her to gain experience with teamwork, community building, and a sense of social justice, as well as diversity and leadership. Throughout the years, she has participated alongside civil associations and other groups with indigenous and local communities, and other altruistic activities, such as collaborating with affected people in 2017, when a great earthquake shook Morelos and the center of the country. All this thanks to the music groups she belongs to.

Diana enjoys playing a bit of guitar and piano, and has a ukulele that she loves to bring and jam with. Although she enjoys many genres of music, her favorite is rock; she was the singer of her own band, Trilobytes but also has been in many rock ensembles in CMA, Morelos.

She has also worked as a music teacher, both with kids and adults. She has been a substitute general teacher in elementary schools, too. Diana greatly enjoys teaching and being able to share knowledge and experiences that may be helpful for people around her. During the 2024-2025 academic year, Diana will live in Casa Augsburg and assist students in multiple ways as the International Resident Assistant.

Irma Salazar,

Director of the Spanish Language Program, Universal Center for Language and Social Communication

isalazarmillan@yahoo.com

My name is Irma Salazar Millán, and I live in Cuernavaca, the city where I was born and raised. I have a Bachelor of Science in Education and have also completed my Masters degree. My specialty is teaching Spanish. I have taught students from all over the world for many years. Throughout my years as a teacher I have met people with different cultures, languages and life experiences, which has helped me to broaden my mind and knowledge, while allowing me to teach and share my own language, culture and traditions. I love what I am; a professor and what I do; to teach. 

Karla Castillo Rosas,

On-call Consultant 

Karla Castillo is a bilingual consultant who helps translate and assist with health issues from time to time. Her number is +52 777 214 5802 (also WhatsApp). She will occasionally be on call during the semester, particularly on weekends if regular staff are unavailable. Your schedule will always list who is on call at the top of any given day, but if you don’t reach that person, try Ann at +62 777 215 6296 or Antonio at +52 777 191 1876.  You can always call the CGEE emergency phone first (+52 777 137 2109), but please recognize that it is sometimes easier to reach staff on their own cell phones. Thanks! 

Karla Vargas, 

Adjunct Professor of Latin Dance

In 2009,  Karla completed her degree in Physical Education at the Universidad Americana  de Morelos (UAM).  She then began teaching P.E. in public schools as well as private settings.  She has been teaching Latin Dance for Augsburg University in Mexico since 2010.  Karla has been spending time with CGEE students since she was a small child because her extended family hosted CGEE students.

Moisés (“Moi”) Aguilar Vargas, 

Grounds and Maintenance Manager

Moisés started working at CGEE in June of 2007, just a week before he and his wife Monica had their first child, Jatniel. He enjoys learning new things, dancing, and music

Ismael Canúl

Driver

You might meet Ismael at the airport when he picks you up! Ismael has been working with us for over twenty-five years and is a valued member of our team.

Laura Castro, 

Cook

Laura started working at CGEE in 2018. She enjoys cooking meals for the students and accommodating students with any diets they may have! She lives in the Nahua indigenous village of Amatlan de Quetzalcoatl and has previously cooked in hotels.

Dora Luz Figueroa, 

Cleaning Staff

Dora has been working with us for 10 years, and works hard to make sure that our living spaces are clean an presentable. She is married to one of our night watchmen, Mario.

Adriana Montoya, 

Cook and Driver

Adriana has been working at Casa Augsburg in the kitchen for almost nine years, cooking and organizing the menus pertaining to student ́s diet restrictions and allergies. She has substantial experience preparing meals for vegans, vegetarians and any other food diets students may have.

 She has recently started driving for Casa Augsburg and has been enjoying her time transporting the students to their excursions or any other activities they have. 

Previously, Adriana received students at her house for almost 17 years before she started working as a cook at Casa Augsburg. She creates a warm, comfortable environment for students. 

Sahraa Flores

Cleaning Staff

I support in the area of cleaning. I am new to the team but I am excited to share a good impression of Mexico. I have two sons, and I love to play guitar and sing. 

Mario Queda Lagunas,

Night Watchman

I am a simple person. I like to respect people and be responsible in what I do.

 Diego Rios Sanchez,

Night Watchman

I am loyal, honest, persevering a little sarcastic. I consider myself to have a strong character, unwavering, I do not give up in the face of adversity.

I am a worker, I offer my help and support when needed. My greatest motivation is and will always be my family.