A series on President Pelton’s five commitments
EDITOR’S NOTE: President Pelton, in his September 14 inaugural address, outlined five specific measures that he believes will move Emerson from “excellent to extraordinary”— establishing the College as the world’s leading institution of higher education in the arts and communication. The measures are: to raise the bar of academic excellence; to innovate; to extend the College’s reach globally; to engage and assist nearby communities; and to ensure sound financial stewardship. In this five-part series, we will address one measure each day. Below is an excerpt on extending the college’s reach globally from President Pelton’s inaugural address:
Our third commitment is to benefit the global society. We will establish an Office of Internationalization and Global Engagement to support faculty and research exchanges and program partnerships with universities abroad. We will establish, where it makes sense, joint- and dual-degree programs. We will begin our global efforts with a focus on Asia and Europe.
In doing so, we will do much more than expand our study abroad program, which we have already begun to do. This will require a commitment to provide our students with deeper and more robust language education and opportunities to engage with countries and cultures in languages other than English.
Our graduates—wherever they live, work, or study—will encounter the increasing diversity of these United States. They will encounter how a new “globalism” has changed our relationships with neighbors that once seemed so far away and so abstract; and how this new proximity and interdependency changes the way we think about education, commerce, and society.
That’s why it is so important for our graduates to leave Emerson with confidence in intercultural exchange in an increasingly interconnected world.
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