Understanding one’s place in the world becomes increasingly difficult as society becomes more global and the boundaries between cultures blur. Diversity of peoples, languages and cultures enriches our lives and opens unprecedented possibilities to us. But these advances also require us to gain a broader knowledge and a greater grasp of the world than at any time in the past.

The role of higher education in helping us to understand the world was described recently in a statement by the Association of American Universities: “International education is the key to U.S. effectiveness in the world economy and national security. The responsibilities of world leadership, promoting democracy and providing humanitarian assistance draw increasingly on international expertise.”

At UCLA, scholars from a wide range of disciplines prepare the next generation of leaders who will not only be outstanding scientists, teachers, artists and citizens, but who also will function effectively in an interconnected global world. The UCLA International Institute, for example, educates global citizens through a variety of degree programs, multidisciplinary centers, research endeavors and public lectures. Its Global Impact Research Grant Program supports cutting-edge faculty research that engages and influences national and international policy debates and, at the same time, stimulates new teaching in the classroom. The institute’s new Global Scholars Program recruits world-class graduate students who study issues pertaining to culture, society, markets andgovernance around the world. Participants in the Global Fellows Program pursue innovative, and often multidisciplinary, work relevant to the multidimensional dynamics of the contemporary world.

Elsewhere on campus, the UCLA Anderson School of Management, through its Global Access Program, engages faculty and students with entrepreneurs around the world. Students gain international field-study experience by helping start-up companies in other countries to develop investment-grade business plans.

UCLA is a leader in addressing world-health issues. This is true beyond the work of the university’s exceptional doctors and researchers. In the Department of World Arts and Cultures, for example, Associate Professor of Dance David Gere is applying theater arts to further AIDS education and prevention in India (see “Art in the Time of AIDS” on page 20). Within UCLA’s School of Public Health, epidemiologist Roger Detels works with public-health professionals from around the world to confront the crisis of AIDS in their homelands (see “East Meets Westwood” on page 32). Researchers in the Neuropsychiatric Institute’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs are working with colleagues in Egypt and Israel to combat illicit drug use in those countries. And last year, students in the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science helped to build a 10-room health clinic in a Thai village that previously had no such medical facilities.

In fact, our students are traveling the world in record numbers. Last year, UCLA sent 1,917 students to other parts of the world, primarily through the Education Abroad Program. That number, the second-highest sent by any U.S. college or university, speaks to our students’ eagerness to explore and experience other cultures firsthand.

By addressing critical issues around the world, UCLA influences the course of life in the 21st century. We alone cannot change the world, but we can and do educate global citizens on whose values and actions the future of the planet depends.

 

 

Albert Carnesale
Chancellor, UCLA