|
|
|
|
| Lee Bollinger Envisions the Role of Universities in a Global Society |
| by Natalia Olynec |
|
Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University, recommended that universities adapt to the fast pace of globalisation by building international partnerships and collaborative projects across borders. Bollinger made the remarks in a public lecture entitled “Universities for a Global Society” at the LKY School on October 27.
“Universities by nature adjust slowly,” he explained. “When events change rapidly it takes time for research agendas and curricula to change. We need explorers as well as scholarly experts. Universities tend not to favour explorers.”
Globalisation is producing tensions associated with the uneven distribution of wealth and environmental issues that “threaten the survival of the planet as we know it,” Bollinger said. “We do not have in place the systems of governance or institutions to govern globalisation.”
He lamented the lack of general knowledge about foreign countries of many scholars and students in the US, the decline of interest in the social sciences, and excessive specialisation.
Academic energies tend to focus and build upon prior work...
|
Lee C. Bollinger
President, Columbia University |
“Academic energies tend to focus and build upon prior work,” Bollinger said. “It leaves younger scholars to search for narrower lines of inquiry.”
He argued that universities should develop deep networks and alliances with other institutions around the world to broaden the knowledge base and tackle collaborative projects that have global impact.
He cited joint degrees and shared courses as an opportunity to expand understanding of international issues. Universities should also establish technologically interlinked research centres around the world, such as the ones being established by Columbia.
The LKY School and SIPA at Columbia are both members of the Global Public Policy Network, which also includes Sciences Po in Paris and the London School of Economics. The universities have student and faculty exchanges and offer double degree programmes.
Bollinger became president of Columbia University in 2002 and is also a member of the faculty of the Law School. One of the nation’s leading scholars of First Amendment issues, he has taught and written about freedom of speech and press for more than 30 years.
His most recent book, Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open: A Free Press for a New Century, will be available in January 2010.
During a question and answer session with the audience of academics, students, diplomats, and civil society representatives, Bollinger argued that the world needs a free and independent press to “serve the needs of a global society.”
“In the US there’s a very strong commitment to living in a world where there is potential for widespread disagreement,” he said. “That is a core principle. It goes with the idea of independent thinking.”
He said universities have an important role in promoting robust debate and freedom of expression.
“A lot of the world views this as potentially dangerous and counterproductive,” he said. “My attitude is that the world needs to be helped towards that kind of value system. It is the most vital and exhilarating kind of world to have.”
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Photo Gallery
