Nancy Ciudad-Simmons

Nancy Ciudad-Simmons works as a senior student success advisor (bilingual) at Georgia Gwinnett College, very much involved in Hispanic Achievers Committed to Excellence in Results (HACER) living learning community and as a first-year experience seminar instructor. She is also part of the Hispanic Organization for Growth, Advancement, and Retention (HOGAR) committee.

She joined GGC in 2013 and has advised first-year students who have had undeclared majors or need extra support when starting their studies, and has served at-risk, EAP (ESL) and international students. In addition to work in this institution, she has been part of the Adult Education Program at Gwinnett Technical College as an ESL instructor and Best Plus tester. She is also a freelance translator and interpreter.

Ciudad-Simmons, who is originally from Lima, Peru, holds a Bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Universidad Ricardo Palma (Peru), a Master’s of Arts degree in TESOL from Greensboro College, NC, and a Graduate Certificate in Translation (English – Spanish) from Georgia State University.

Ciudad-Simmons has over three decades of teaching experience. She has worked as an ESL instructor at different institutions and as a private tutor. She has taught at intensive English programs while living in Lima, Peru and at the Georgia Tech Language Institute. She has taught English as a second language (ESL), as a foreign language (EFL), for specific purposes (ESP) to students and professionals in different fields, as well as Spanish (SLT) in Peru and here in the United States in the school system and in higher education. While in the school system, she was part of the World Languages elementary school teachers that developed the Georgia Performance Standards for K-5 Modern Languages – Five Day Model for the Georgia Department of Education. She has taught English for academic purposes (EAP) to ESL students and native English speakers at Gordon State College. She has also had the opportunity to prepare and teach specialized courses such as TOEFL and English-Spanish technical and commercial translation.

While in Peru, she became an academic consultant for Macmillan Heinemann ELT and also worked for DynEd International – an English language learning software and courseware company based in Silicon Valley, CA – training teachers and students in Peru, Colombia and Argentina.

She was a VIP member for Peru TESOL. She is an active member of Georgia TESOL and the TESOL International Association. She has presented at different conferences related to Peru TESOL, GATESOL and SETESOL.

Ciudad-Simmons is one of the steering committee members for the Global Engagement Advising Community from NACADA (The Global Community for Academic Advising) and is also part of one of their writing support groups. She wrote a book review and has participated and presented at NACADA conferences (regional and national).

Education, languages and learning about other cultures are her passion. To continue enhancing her teaching and learning experience, she is now a doctoral student in the concentration of TESOL and World Language Education which is part of the Department of Language and Literacy in the Mary Frances Early College of Education at the University of Georgia. Her area of interests for teaching and researching are language and culture; intercultural communication; technology-enhanced learning environments; and how to better serve young adult and adult learners, specifically immigrants, international professionals and those who are part of the Latino/Hispanic/Latinx community.

She believes that “we must help students discover, appreciate and preserve their culture because you cannot love what you do not know.” One of her goals is for students to develop their learning curiosity and the desire to thrive in their chosen professional path. As part of her interest in diversity, equity and inclusion and basing her approach on an asset-based and validation framework, she coaches students to feel comfortable and proud of who they are and knows that they have a voice and can be essential and a positive force for the community they study, work and live in.

• Doctorate (in progress) – TESOL and world languages education – University of Georgia
• Graduate Certificate – translation (English – Spanish) – Georgia State University
• Master’s – teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) – Greensboro College
• Bachelor’s – architecture – Universidad Ricardo Palma

• Intercultural and multicultural communication, teaching and learning
• Adult learners: immigrants, international professionals, 1.5 generation
• Language and culture
• Fostering growth mindset and social belonging
• Technology-enhanced learning environments