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Meet the Staff

Mr. J. Scott Van Der Meid

Assistant Dean of Academic Services
and Director of Study Abroad

Scott has directed the study abroad program at Brandeis University since 1999.  Prior to his time at Brandeis he worked for several years in Boston University's Office of International Programs.  Scott received his B.A. in History and German Literature with a concentration in Asia in the Modern World from Allegheny College and his M.A. in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University.  He studied in West Germany during the fall of the Berlin Wall and Germany's eventual unification. Scott also studied and worked for several years in Tokyo, Japan. He has been to over 52 countries on every continent except Antarctica. Professionally Scott has served on several national advisory boards in the field of international education including Arcadia University's National Advisory Board, IFSA-Butler's Executive Council of the National Advisory Council and SIT Study Abroad's Partnership Council. He is past Co-Chair of the NAFSA Rainbow Special Interest Group and served as a founding member of the Forum on Education Abroad's Advisory Council. Other national committee involvement included NAFSA's Committee on Underrepresentation in Education Abroad, the SECUSSA Data Collection Working Group, the CIEE Nomination's Committee, the IES Membership Committee, the Forum on Education Abroad's Data Committee and Forum on Education Abroad's Ethics Working Group. He currently serves as chair of the IES Institutional Membership Committee and is a member of the Advisory Board for the NAFSA Rainbow SIG.

Ms. Alisha Cardwell
Department Administrator

Alisha began working at Brandeis in November 2012. She comes from a small town in Ohio and was fortunate to have a high school Spanish teacher who first took her out of the country to both Costa Rica and Spain. She holds a B.A. from Miami University in Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs and a M.Ed. with a specialization in higher education administration from Northeastern University. As a student, Alisha studied abroad for a semester in Luxembourg and also spent a summer in Costa Rica doing volunteer work. Prior to coming to Brandeis, Alisha worked with faculty-led study abroad programs at both EF College Study Tours and the Office of Lifelong Learning at Miami University and most recently worked in Graduate Admissions at New England College of Business and Finance.

Mr. Darren R. Gallant, '08
Study Abroad Advisor

Darren joined the office in March 2013. He double majored in Sociology and Politics while at Brandeis. A member of the 2nd midyear class, he was very involved in various campus organizations and student life. During his junior year, Darren studied abroad in Copenhagen with the Denmark International Studies Program (DIS) to bolster his academic learning. Darren earned his M.A. in Higher Education / Student Personnel Administration from New York University. During his time at NYU he traveled to Israel to study international higher education. Most recently Darren worked at Grinnell College and Wheelock College in residence life and academic advising. He is excited to share his experience as an undergraduate at Brandeis and his travel to some 13 countries; including Australia, Costa Rica, Italy, Spain, and France.

Ms. Allyson W. Goose
Assistant Director of Study Abroad

Allyson started her work in the Office of Study Abroad in June 2008, bringing with her extensive experience in international and experiential education. Prior to coming to Brandeis she served as an advisor and resident coordinator at Dynamy, a gap year and college-access program in Worcester, Massachusetts. There she delivered leadership development programs, organized community service projects and counseled students on job skills. In addition, she has taught English in Unoke, Japan and Cuenca, Ecuador. She holds a Master's degree in Teaching from Brown University and a B.A. in Anthropology from Grinnell College. As a student, she studied abroad in Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the Netherlands.

Ms. Amber Thacher
Program Manager, Brandeis-Led Study Programs

Amber joined the Brandeis team in September 2012 and brings with her extensive experience and knowledge of the field of international education.  Prior to coming to Brandeis, Amber served as a program manager at Boston University Study Abroad, a study abroad advisor at Northwestern University, and coordinated and served as on-site director of programs in Costa Rica and Mexico with Interamerican University Studies Institute in Eugene, OR. She received an MA in Intercultural Relations from Lesley University in 2008 and a BA from the University of Oregon in Political Science in 2002, where she had her first experience abroad at the Universidad Autonoma de Querétaro in Mexico in 2000.  In addition to her role at Brandeis, Amber serves as co-chair of the Boston Area Study Abroad Association.

Ms. Chelsea E. Norman
Study Abroad Graduate Assistant

Nashville native Chelsea  is new to both Massachusetts and Brandeis University. Her first trip abroad was to the Netherlands at age 17; an experience she refers to as the catalyst for her obsession with culture, foreign language, and social justice. After returning from the Netherlands, Chelsea went on to pursue a B.A. at Middle Tennessee State University in Global Studies (Globalization, Culture and Commerce concentration) with minors in French and Health Education. Chelsea had the good fortune to study abroad twice during her undergraduate years: once as a service learning/independent student in Tanzania, and later as an exchange student in France. She briefly worked in Senegal with the Peace Corps as a preventative health educator. Her service in the Peace Corps ended prematurely due to illness. However, the termination serendipitously changed her academic trajectory and landed her a position in Brandeis; Global Studies M.A. program. Chelsea is currently researching health systems in francophone Africa, specifically focusing on maternal mortality and morbidity in Senegal. Above all, she enjoys encouraging students to travel and experience varying worldviews through full immersion. She feels that studying abroad is the most important investment one can make in their academic and professional future

Ms. Jordan Birnbaum, '12
Student Worker

Jordan is a senior at Brandeis pursuing a double major in Economics and Politics with a minor in IGS. She studied abroad in Serbia with SIT/Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo: Peace and Conflict Studies in the Balkans and extended her stay by doing an internship with an NGO in Belgrade. Now back at Brandeis, she started working with the Office of Study Abroad in September 2012, and she also works with Phonathon, and the Ethics Center Leadership. In her spare time, she is currently working on a thesis looking at the challenges of truth telling and reconciliation in the Balkans. Her goal in life is to see the world, and she wants to encourage everyone to study abroad and get the chance to explore and learn about other cultures and ways of life.