ABOUT GEO CENTER
Don't miss this!
Students share photos and projects about their travel course
Berlin: Cutting-edge Contemporary Architecture and Public Art in Germany.
Thursday May 15, 7pm , Massachusetts College of Art and Design,
Trustees Room. Tower Building, 621 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA
For more information contact Christina Lanzl at
christina.lanzl@massart.edu or 617-879-7973
Services
The GEO Center provides a myriad of services to the COF
schools and their students. GEO Center services include but
are not limited to:
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Provide guidance to students and faculty seeking international
experience
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Work with faculty/staff for travel course development
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Event planning for internationally themed events
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Outreach to underrepresented populations in study abroad
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Development of forms, applications, etc. for study abroad
and travel courses
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Work with administrators and faculty to advise students
about study abroad
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Marketing and promotion of COF International events
(including Culture Shock, art exhibitions, lectures, film
screenings, etc.
Initiatives
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Global Ambassadors Program – returned study abroad students
share their knowledge and experience with COF peers
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Faculty/staff Workshops – preparation for leading a
travel course
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Students of Color Lunch – information on study abroad
for students of color
- Re-entry Social – information for returned student on
how to incorporate their experience into daily life
Programming
- COF study abroad fairs (one per semester)
- Pre-departure orientations
- Career Workshop
Meet the GEO Center Staff
 Robin
Melavalin
Robin Melavalin, Director of the Global Education Opportunities
(GEO) Center, is an internal consultant to the six Colleges
of the Fenway schools. She is involved in all aspects of
internationalizing the campuses, which includes working
with faculty and administrators as they prepare to take
students abroad, streamlining procedures and policies, and
working with the campuses to develop their strategic vision
for internationalization. An anthropologist, photographer
and teacher, she has been in the field of international
education for over 20 years and has led student groups to
Cuba, Cape Verde, and other countries. She has also traveled
in Kenya, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Bali, Uzbekistan
and China. In her spare time she leads outdoor adventure
trips for the Appalachian Mountain Club.
 Atina
White
Atina White is the Assistant Director of the GEO Center.
She leads the Global Ambassador’s program and coordinates
all events run through the GEO Center including the Study
Abroad Fair, Pre-departure Orientations, Social for Returned
Study Abroad Students, Students of Color Lunch, and Faculty/Staff
Workshops. Prior to joining The Colleges of the Fenway,
Atina worked as a consultant for various organizations,
including Harvard Medical School and the Boston Public Health
Commission, for which she did work related to cultural sensitivity
and diversity. She comes to us with international work experience,
having worked for EF Educational Tours in Stockholm, Sweden.
Atina recently completed a Master’s Degree at Lesley University
in Intercultural Relations. And, she earned her B.A. in
Organizational Behavior and Management from Brown University.
Her passion for travel and various cultures has led her
to live in Seville, Spain and travel to Western Europe,
Egypt, Japan, Kenya, Morocco, and most recently South Africa.
She is fluent in Swedish and proficient in Spanish. In addition
to traveling, Atina loves dancing, skiing, photography and
the outdoors.
 Elisabeth
Robart
Elisabeth Robart is the graduate intern for the GEO Center.
She recently completed a Masters degree in International
Educational Development at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Prior to coming to the GEO Center she worked as a Graduate
Assistant in the Office of International Services as well
as the TESOL Certificate Program both at Teachers College.
She also taught English in China for 18 months prior to
completing her Masters degree. She earned her B.A in Psychology
and Music from Bryn Mawr College. She comes from a bi-cultural
family with a French father and an American mother and grew
up living in France for the first 16 years of her life.
She has traveled extensively through Europe and China, is
fluent in French and beginner level in Mandarin Chinese.
In addition she loves to sing, cook, go for long walks near
the water, and see any foreign films she can find.
Committees
The GEO Center works with four committees, the Study Abroad
Council, the Advisory Board, International Student Advisors
and International Recruiters, in order to fulfill its mission
of internationalizing the campuses and providing cross-cultural
opportunities for students. The committees foster collaboration
among individuals, departments and institutions with regard
to all aspects of internationalization.
Study Abroad
Council
Nine COF members who are directly involved with helping
students travel on semester, year and short-term programs
meet to share best practices and collaborate on marketing,
orientations, fairs and other projects.
 Lisa
Larson Read
Lisa Larson Read handles study abroad and international
student advising as Emmanuel College's Director of International
Programs. Her ten years of international education experience
at several Boston-area colleges includes these areas as
well as general academic advising, language proficiency
assessment, and intensive English program management.
She holds an Ed.M. in Administration, Planning and Social
Policy from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and
a B.A. in Literature from Wesleyan University. Lisa considers
her own eight months studying in Paris to be the major
turning point in her life, and loves helping students
begin their own journeys. Having traveled throughout Europe
and to Japan, Cambodia and Thailand, her next dream destination
is Morocco.
 Mary
Weber
Mary Weber is the half-time International Programs Assistant
at Emmanuel College, where she helps students consider
and choose study abroad programs and manages the application
process. Prior to her arrival at Emmanuel, Mary completed
her BS in Psychology at the University of Mary Washington.
While an undergraduate, she studied for a semester in
England and interned for a year in the International Academic
Services. She is currently in the Intercultural Relations
Graduate Program at Lesley University.
 Tony
Laing
Tony Laing is Diversity and Programs Exchange advisor.
In this role, he works with students interested in semester
study abroad or domestic exchanges. Tony is also responsible
for helping to promote diversity programs. Prior to MassArt,
he worked at The New School in NY and has traveled throughout
Africa as an exchange student, teacher and researcher.
Tony was nominated twice for the Fulbright Teacher and
Administrator Exchange Program and received a Rotary Ambassadorial
scholarship. Tony holds a BA in political science and
an MPA in management and international development.
 Natalie
Vinski
Natalie Vinski is coordinator of the Office of International
Education Programs at Massachusetts College of Art. She
provides a range of services and programming to students,
faculty and staff including oversight of the college’s
faculty-led international travel courses and advising/support
to the college’s international student population. As
an undergraduate student, Natalie spent a semester studying
art and social change in Prague, Czech Republic through
the School for International Training, followed by two
months of solo travel through Europe. Her most recent
travels have included Ireland, Ecuador, Mexico, Newfoundland,
and Egypt (as part of MassArt’s spring 2007 travel course,
Egypt of the Pharaohs, led by Professor John Russell).
 Lauren
Thorman
Lauren Thorman is Associate Director of the Center for
International Education, Leadership, and Innovation at
Wheelock College. She has been involved in international
education and child and family policy issues for nine
years. Her duties at Wheelock College include coordinating
the Wheelock College International Visiting Scholar Program
and the International Service Learning Program, which
provides faculty-led overseas learning experiences for
students; researching and developing new international
markets; and assisting in the launch and administration
of current overseas programs. Lauren’s areas of expertise
include international program development, international
student recruitment, and project management. Before coming
to Wheelock College in 2007, Lauren worked with a range
of programs and services for international students at
Suffolk University’s Center for International Education.
She has traveled extensively throughout Asia and is a
graduate of the NAFSA Academy, an intensive two-year training
program in international education offered by NAFSA: Association
of International Educators. Lauren holds a B.S. in Human
Service Studies from Cornell University and an M.P.A.
from The George Washington University.
GEO Center
Advisory Board
Eleven COF administrators and faculty guide the GEO Center
strategic planning process, major projects and budgets.
International
Student Advisors
Committee members provide support to international students
through tax and career workshops; they also share best practices
for international student support and retention.
International
Recruiters
In three meetings, this committee of academic and student
life deans, admissions administrators and international
advisors analyzed and recommended collective strategies
for recruiting international students to the COF.
Global Ambassadors
The global ambassadors program is an opportunity for students
who have returned from study abroad to share their experience
with students on the COF campuses. Global Ambassadors conduct
info sessions in residence halls, hold weekly travel talk
tables, volunteer at GEO Center events, and may be available
for one on one peer consultations regarding study abroad.
Spring 2007 Global Ambassadors
Amy Dipalcido
Amy DiPlacido is a senior fibers major at Massachusetts
College of Art. She studied at Oregon College of Art and
Craft her junior semester through the AICAD mobility program.
In addition, she traveled to Vietnam with the MassArt travel
course “Art and Culture in Vietnam”, and in Italy. She encourages
any student to travel in order to inform personal artistic
growth. Amy plans to study at Cranbrook Academy of Art in
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan next fall for graduate school.
Kate Woodford
Kate Woodford, a junior at Wheelock College, studies Human
Development and Early Childhood Education. She has spent
a significant amount of time traveling around Peru, Nicaragua
and other parts of Latin America. Most recently, she spent
the spring semester of 2006 studying in Lima, Peru. Her
travels abroad have opened her eyes to what she is not generally
exposed to on a regular basis, from differing cultural beliefs
and practices to extreme poverty like she has never seen
in the States. She has learned so much that she will be
able to apply to her studies, her career and her future,
it is immeasurable. She would recommend an abroad experience
to anyone she meets!!!!
Lauren Zanotti
Lauren Zanotti is a junior at Emmanuel College. She studied
abroad in Galway, Ireland in fall 2006. She became a Global
Ambassador because she wanted someone else to be able to
have as incredible of an experience as she did. A few highlights
from her semester abroad were meeting new friends from all
over the world, traveling to five different countries, and
fully immersing herself in the "Galwegian" style
of life.
Kelly Kilday
Kelly Kilday is a senior at Emmanuel College. She is graduating
in May with a BA in Health and Counseling Psychology. She
enjoys most everything that has to do with the outdoors
and being active! She loves music, art, her family and friends,
the ocean, and of course travel. She studied at the University
of Queensland Australia in spring 2006 and is planning her
next adventure abroad for after graduation.
Whitney Oliver
Whitney, a junior at Emmanuel College, studied for a semester
in London, England. Studying abroad gave her the confidence
to do things she never would have done when she got home.
She feels that being out of her comfort zone for a semester
was just what she needed to challenge herself at home now
as well. Being in London opened her eyes to living and working
abroad and helped to broaden her horizons.
Kathleen Fitzgerald
Kathleen Fitzgerald is a senior at Simmons College. She
studied at the London School of Economics (LSE) for the
year 2005-2006. She had the opportunity to make friends
from all over the world, challenge herself in a different
academic environment and travel all over Western Europe,
including a 17-day backpacking trip.
Emily O’Brien
Emily is a senior at MassArt and she spent a semester in
Holland. Planning her trip, she had no idea how valuable
the life experience she gained from going abroad would be.
Everyone should be so lucky to have an opportunity to travel
while in school and she would like to pass on whatever advice
she can give.
Erin Murphy
Erin is a senior at Simmons College. She spent four months
traveling the world with Semester at Sea. Erin is continuing
her international travel by moving to Japan after graduation
to teach English.
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