George Mason University - Center for Global Education

The Center for Global Education (CGE) offers a wide range of international study, research, service, and leadership opportunities to George Mason students, faculty, staff, and members of the general public. CGE also designs and implements international programs for undergraduates, graduates, and professionals seeking knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the culturally diverse society of the 21st century. Last but not least, CGE manages a variety of international programs in almost 50 countries: short-term programs during the winter break and summer term; semester and year-long exchanges; intensive language courses; internships; and an honors semester at the University of Oxford.

Our Staff

Director: Dr. Yehuda Lukacs

Yehuda Lukacs is Associate Provost for International Programs and Director of the Center for Global Education. He also teaches International Relations and History at George Mason University. He has taught at the School of International Service at American University, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore County. In January 2002, he was a visiting professor of International Relations at University College Cork, Ireland. He has published several articles and books dealing with contemporary international relations and Arab-Israeli affairs.

General Manager: Marie alice Arnold
Phone: (703) 993-2167
Office Hours: Mon/Tues 2-4 pm; Wed/Thurs 10:30 am-12:30 pm

Marie alice Arnold is the Center for Global Education's General Manager. She holds a Masters Degree in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University. Growing up in a Navy family, she moved often, developing a love of travel and an interest in cultural exchange. During her undergraduate years at Skidmore College, she spent a year at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In 1989, she began working in Study Abroad at the Council of International Educational Exchange (CIEE), where she worked with programs around the Globe.

Prior to joining CGE, she worked at Skidmore College as a Senior Program Manager in the Office of Off-Campus Study and Exchange. She is the proud mother of two wonderful boys. A graduate of T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, she was excited to return to Virginia. Seeing students thrive in their adventures abroad fuels her passion for international education.

Associate General Manager: Erin Mateu
Phone: (703) 993-3864
Office Hours: Mon/Tues: 2-3pm,Wed/Thurs: 11am-12noon, Friday: by appointment.

Erin Mateu is the Associate General Manager at the Center for Global Education. Having returned to the U.S after seven years living and working in Paris, France, Erin is excited about helping students achieve their global goals. Being a "military brat" and having to move fairly often gave her a taste for travel. She traveled extensively around the United States and France, and has also toured England and the Mediterranean (including Cyprus and Egypt).

Her study abroad experience began in high school with a semester in Bordeaux, France. Double majoring in International Business Management and French, Erin completed her undergraduate work at Central College in Iowa. In college, she participated in a year-long program at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, and then in a semester internship in London, England. She also attended the Institut Catholique de Paris for work on her Master's in French Comparative Literature.

Erin considers herself to be a true study abroad advocate who believes that study abroad can shape one's life. In joining CGE, she is looking forward to guiding and assisting those seeking exposure to something different.

Accounts Administrator: Joanne Cabe
Phone: (703) 993-4048

Joanne Cabe is the Accounts Administrator at the Center for Global Education and has been part of the Center for Global Education Mason Abroad team since 1995. Joanne is responsible for the daily financial management of the Center for Global Education. She has accompanied a Mason Spring group to Egypt and is the proud mother of three children, Jordan, Ariel & Leslie.

Office Manager: Shanaz Tihal
Phone: (703) 993-2154

Shanaz Tihal is the Office Manager at the Center for Global Education. She joined the Center for Global Education team in Spring 2004. Shanaz is the first point of contact at CGE. Her bright smile and sunny disposition puts everyone at ease!

Originally from Guyana, Shanaz spent more of her life in Toronto, Canada where she worked at Centennial College in the Registrars Office for 19 years. Shanaz moved to the Washington, D.C. area along with her family in 2003. She is the proud mother of 3 beautiful children!

Program Officer: Sarah Mournighan
Phone: (703) 993-2106
Office Hours: Wednesday 10am – 12pm; Thursday 2 pm – 4 pm; Friday by appointment

Sarah Mournighan is a program officer at the Center for Global Education and a native of the Washington DC area who hails from McLean, VA.

She received her undergraduate degree from Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, where she studied International Relations and French. While at Bucknell, she spent a semester at the Université François Rabelais in Tours, France, studying French politics and International Economics (all in French!). She also interned in the Office of International Education at Bucknell.

Her second time abroad was at the University of Bristol in England where she received her Masters of Science in International Relations. She is a former DC area intern, having held internships at the US International Trade Commission and in the Office of Policy and International Affairs at the US Department of Energy. Sarah is excited to help students receive the same life changing experiences that come with living and studying overseas.

Senior Program Officer: Denise Elles-Mdahuar
Phone: (703) 993-2155
Office Hours: Mon/Tues 2 pm- 4 pm; Wed/Thurs 10-11

Denise Elles-Mdahuar is a Senior Program Officer at the Center for Global Education. Denise is an American citizen with Lebanese and Italian heritage, who has travelled to England, Ireland, Wales, Spain, Canada and lived in Mexico for many years. Denise is fluent in Spanish and while in Mexico, Denise attended the University of Mexico for Foreigners studying Spanish and Mexican Culture and worked as an ESL teacher with both children and adults.

Program Officer: Gregory Seiler
Phone: (703) 993-2641
Office Hours: Wed 10 am-2 pm; Thur 12 -2pm, Mon/Tue/Fri by appointment

Gregory Seiler is a Program Officer at the Center for Global
Education. Prior to joining CGE, he worked as a Program Manager at the Association for International Practical Training (AIPT) managing international experiential learning programs and internships. Passionate about international experience, Gregory has studied abroad at the University of Salamanca and worked as an English teacher at the Vietnamese American Training College in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Gregory received his bachelor of arts from George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, D.C.

Program Officer: Joelle Williams
Phone: (703) 993-2161
Office Hours: Tues 10 am-12 pm; Wed 12-2pm

Joelle Williams is a Program Officer at the Center for Global Education. Originally from Seattle, WA, Joelle studied abroad in Tokyo, Japan while majoring in International Studies at Kenyon College. Upon graduation, she returned to teach English in rural Japan on the JET Program for three years. Her English teaching adventures eventually led to a position coordinating the JET Program at the Embassy of Japan prior to joining George Mason's staff. Trips to destinations such as Hawaii, Italy, Thailand, and Costa Rica have only further inspired her to travel more and encourage others to experience the world for themselves. Along with a passion for international education and travel Joelle cultivates her love for world music and dance through her studies of Latin, Middle Eastern, and Polynesian dance and drumming with her Afro-Brazilian samba-reggae percussion band, Batala Washington.

Marketing Coordinator: Kevin Stoy
Phone: (703) 993-2132

Kevin Stoy is the Center for Global Education's Marketing Coordinator. A Freeman-ASIA scholarship recipient, he first studied abroad as an undergraduate in Tibet. In 2006 as a graduate student he studied literature abroad at the University of Cambridge and in 2007 earned his MFA in poetry from George Mason University. He has taught literature, composition, and creative writing courses at the University of Michigan and George Mason University, and currently teaches business writing in Mason's School of Management.