A Global Studies Program for Washington &
Lee
Advisory Group on International Education
draft proposal, 25 May 1999
Hugh Blackmer
The image of the Earth in space is familiar to everybody, but the global
perspective it implies has only been possible for about 30 years. We are
bathed in a flood of data from satellites, connected to the rest of the
world by a webwork of glass fiber, and equipped with computers and
software which enable us to visualize and monitor systems and processes at
scale
levels from submolecular to extraterrestrial. We can ask questions
and study trends and interconnectivity in ways that were unthinkable a
generation ago.
Disciplines which adopt an explicitly global perspective include biology,
geology, economics, meteorology, history, anthropology, oceanography,
geography, political science, communication, and demography. Writers
whose focus is on world systems include the sociologist Immanuel
Wallerstein, the economist Kenneth Boulding, the historian William
McNeill, and the ecologists Eugene and Howard Odum. Utopian visionaries
like Buckminster Fuller and extrapolatory Cassandras like Jay Forrester
have taken the global view of man's future.
Preparing students for the
world of the near future
demands energy and flexibility beyond the capabilities of traditional
disciplines and curricula. To a greater degree than their parents, they will
create careers outside of the familiar categories,
need to deal with people of different backgrounds, and require knowledge
about the complexities of the world around them. International studies and
travel can
contribute to broader understanding, but should rest upon a foundation in
global and cross-disciplinary context. This foundation may inspire a
new approach to General Education, emphasizing a breadth of intellectual
frameworks and a general understanding of analytical tools.
Global Studies programs have been created in a wide array of college and
university settings (see links to a selection
of illustrative web pages), and examples and data
resources abound. While a focus on international studies and an
emphasis on analysis of large-scale phenomena are common to most programs,
many also
include visiting scholars, research support for students and professors,
sponsorship of public events and workshops, exchanges with other
institutions, and electronic archives of data, studies, and stimulus
materials.
The elements of the Global Studies Program:
A liberally educated young man, I hadn't the faintest
idea how the world worked.
(Stewart Brand, Whole
Earth Epilog, 1986)
- Liberal Arts and General Education
The global view is an appropriate perspective for freshmen and sophomores
because it spans disciplines and even bridges the alleged gulf between
sciences and humanities. General Education objectives often include such
broad questions as what are the interests and tools of specialists in a
discipline? What are the component pieces and how do they fit
together, how are they connected? How shall we comprehend what's going on
with the whole? Courses focused on such general questions are
intended to raise general issues rather than to introduce disciplines, and
an
explicitly global focus could inspire the international interests we'd
like to encourage.
Although few courses at W&L are
explicitly global in scope, it is not difficult to imagine broadening of
the scope of existing courses and the creation
of offerings like Human Genetics in Space and Time,
Languages in Space and Time, Global Economies, The Telesphere: Global
Information and Communication. Possibilities for Interdisciplinary
courses and crossover with Environmental Studies and Poverty Programs
are easily foreseen.
- Tools and Data
Global perspectives rely upon data and
development of analytical skills. The Web connects us to such information
clearinghouses as CIESIN
and ICPSR, and remote sensing
technologies offer vast streams of data. The quantitative skills required
to extract and display patterns in such data are in great demand, and
recent software developments make the skills more attainable than they
used to be. Among the tools now available to us at W&L are ArcView, a
powerful Geographic Information Systems
(GIS) package which enables the creation of maps and analysis of spatial
data, and a variety of statistical and database programs (Excel, Access,
SPSS, Minitab) which facilitate data manipulation and would be more
generally understood if they were used in more settings. GIS is the key
enabling technology, applicable to the work of many disciplines and
useful in a broad range of occupations.
- Electronic Archives
The campus network environment makes it
feasible to install site-licensed software on individual workstations,
create accessible data archives, and maintain
and distribute collections of materials and completed projects (student portfolios are a prospective example of
this medium). A map archive (containing base maps and data and maps
produced at W&L) would be an important part of this.
- Public Events
Global Studies would sponsor public lectures,
film series, problem-focused workshops
with visiting scholars, on-campus broadcast of significant events from
satellite video link, and generally work to raise the on-campus
visibility of international interests.
- Exchange Programs
International travel, area studies and
language study are important aspects of global perspective. The Global
Studies Program would support
and facilitate faculty and student exchanges, internships, and long-term
relationships with other institutions, in collaboration with the Office
of International Education. We anticipate a level of financial
support that would allow any W&L student to participate in
international programs.
- Faculty
Development
Support for course development is an essential
component of a Global Studies Program, and would include training in the
use of relevant software (GIS in particular) and funds for
purchase of datasets. Sabbatical and Visiting
Faculty support might also be available through the
Program, as might funds for short-term lectureships and
honoraria and fees for workshops and conference
participation. - Support for Student Projects
While
it is not anticipated that Global Studies would be organized as a major
or minor, students planning international study or travel could rely upon
the program as a source of technical and hardware support, in exchange for
which they
would agree to contribute to the electronic archive. In the near future
it may be that digital cameras and laptop computers will be really useful
adjuncts to travel (rather than the encumbrances they are in their
current form)
Organization and Administration
The Global Studies Program would be led by a Coordinator, a faculty
member appointed in the same manner as Poverty Program and Environmental
Studies Coordinators are, and thus the Program would not require
additional
faculty positions. Funding for Visiting Professorships (for a term
or an academic year) and Visiting Scholars (for shorter periods) would
bring expertise to W&L, but most Global Studies courses would be
taught by W&L faculty, either as augmentations of existing
departmental offerings
or as new courses in Interdisciplinary Studies (to fulfill a
prospective Global
Studies Gen Ed requirement).Courses aimed at Freshmen and Sophomores
would encourage the development of perspectives that go beyond the
single nation-state, single linguistic community, and single set of
beliefs that most have grown up with (see 'Liberal Arts and
General Education', above). Upper level courses could be
more problem-focused and would probably be organized as data-oriented
cross-disciplinary seminars. Courses might include subjects like:
Global Warming, Development and Modernization, Globalization of
Information, Human Rights, World Health, Political Economy, Emergence of
the World System, Secularization and Revival, Pollution, War and Peace,
Deforestation, Converging World Views?, and any number of others that
emphasize plurality of viewpoints.
Missing Pieces
- Courses not presently taught at W&L which seem especially
salient for Global Studies: Human Geography, Demography
- Development of GIS skill base
- Improved support for development of quantitative skills
- Association with programs with similar goals