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A global education is not necessarily a set of facts or courses. As has already been said, it is a sense of open-mindedness, a willingly to acknowledge other possibility, to let the mind go beyond the present setting and to imagine other ways and other peoples. The culture in which you are raised, for better of for worse, endows you with a certain view of the world and how to operate in it. But given the increasing pace of globalization and the growing about of interaction between nations and people, across language and national boundaries, I believe it as become essential to be able to imagine, respect, and even operate in other ways.
It is the role of the university to provide classes that enable students to learn about the world through history, literature, film, art, language, and humanities classes. Lit Hum and CC give you the western tradition and teach students to think critically. But courses like Latin American Humanities are also needed to show an alternative side. Yet all classes can teach students to think with open and optimistic minds.
I do believe that a global education must include at least one foreign language and an extended stay abroad. I study French and Spanish and spent a semester abroad and will be going abroad again. Learning to think in another lingistic code and to live in another society truly prepares a student for global society because once you learn how to learn a foreign language or how to live in another country [i], you can apply those skills again and again.
Finally, a global education is not only the responsibility of the university, but of the students. We can sit in classes all we want and have ideas spit out at us, but the possibility of a true global education ultimately resides with the student. It is the student that must get involved in classes, must think, must decide to go abroad, or to get involved in a cultural group on campus, or even to go to a restaurant with non-American cuisine. Students define a global education, the university is there to provide the groundwork, facilitate student ambitions, and give encouragement.
It is the role of the university to provide classes that enable students to learn about the world through history, literature, film, art, language, and humanities classes. Lit Hum and CC give you the western tradition and teach students to think critically. But courses like Latin American Humanities are also needed to show an alternative side. Yet all classes can teach students to think with open and optimistic minds.
I do believe that a global education must include at least one foreign language and an extended stay abroad. I study French and Spanish and spent a semester abroad and will be going abroad again. Learning to think in another lingistic code and to live in another society truly prepares a student for global society because once you learn how to learn a foreign language or how to live in another country [i], you can apply those skills again and again.
Finally, a global education is not only the responsibility of the university, but of the students. We can sit in classes all we want and have ideas spit out at us, but the possibility of a true global education ultimately resides with the student. It is the student that must get involved in classes, must think, must decide to go abroad, or to get involved in a cultural group on campus, or even to go to a restaurant with non-American cuisine. Students define a global education, the university is there to provide the groundwork, facilitate student ambitions, and give encouragement.