http://publicdiplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/05/04/interview-nafsa%e2%80%99s-hopes-for-the-next-us-candidate/ and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:24:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.0 http://publicdiplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/05/04/interview-nafsa%e2%80%99s-hopes-for-the-next-us-candidate/#comment-878 Wed, 07 May 2008 19:27:24 +0000 http://publicdiplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/05/04/interview-nafsa%e2%80%99s-hopes-for-the-next-us-candidate/#comment-878 I'm glad NAFSA is expressing concerns, but for those of us who'd like to join NAFSA in this advocacy effort, it would be helpful to know where and to whom at NAFSA to go for more information, to get involved, etc. Perhaps NAFSA feels it needs to protect the staff member(s) who did the actual interview from accusations of partisanship (although the interview is not partisan in my view), but I'm one reader for whom full disclosure rather than anonymity would be much more convincing and motivating! I’m glad NAFSA is expressing concerns, but for those of us who’d like to join NAFSA in this advocacy effort, it would be helpful to know where and to whom at NAFSA to go for more information, to get involved, etc. Perhaps NAFSA feels it needs to protect the staff member(s) who did the actual interview from accusations of partisanship (although the interview is not partisan in my view), but I’m one reader for whom full disclosure rather than anonymity would be much more convincing and motivating!

]]> http://publicdiplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/05/04/interview-nafsa%e2%80%99s-hopes-for-the-next-us-candidate/#comment-856 Tue, 06 May 2008 20:48:58 +0000 http://publicdiplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/2008/05/04/interview-nafsa%e2%80%99s-hopes-for-the-next-us-candidate/#comment-856 There is a serious disconnect between the reality of the international community's perception of the U.S. and what international ecucators believe to be the solution. It's really quite simple, but for some reason even the most educated of educators don't want to accept it. You see, "they" don't hate Americans. The fact that study abroad programs are alive and well is evidence that other nations and cultures enjoy American participants. To paraphrase James Carville, it's the foreign policy, stupid. Until the United States stops propping up Israel and turning a blind eye to its ethnic cleansing to Palestinians (newsflash: both Christian and Muslim) then there will be no acceptance of the U.S. government, not to be confused with acceptance and "playing nice" with Americans. Moreover, we need to examine our own views of internationalization and world citizenry when fewer than six in 10 young Americans ages 18 to 24 cannot find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, according to a 2006 National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs Geographic Literacy Study. Sending a fraction of our college students abroad will not make a dent in that reality. Even more disturbing is the reality that our bilingual education dialog in this country is at odds with the international education dialog. Why is it more admirable for a college student to spend one semester abroad in a circumstance of his/her choosing, probably with few real academic consequences, and come back with a fairly good command of a foreign language when, at the same time, little Juan or Joon-Li finds himself in a sink-or-swim situation in elementary school with no support and no one admiring his efforts to achieve bilingualism. I love international study, but we have to wake up and deal with reality. Americans are paying for the apartheid wall, all the while patting themselves on the back at being able to send Sam or Suzie to pick a few olives so we can call ourselves global citizens. There is a serious disconnect between the reality of the international community’s perception of the U.S. and what international ecucators believe to be the solution.
It’s really quite simple, but for some reason even the most educated of educators don’t want to accept it.
You see, “they” don’t hate Americans. The fact that study abroad programs are alive and well is evidence that other nations and cultures enjoy American participants.
To paraphrase James Carville, it’s the foreign policy, stupid. Until the United States stops propping up Israel and turning a blind eye to its ethnic cleansing to Palestinians (newsflash: both Christian and Muslim) then there will be no acceptance of the U.S. government, not to be confused with acceptance and “playing nice” with Americans.
Moreover, we need to examine our own views of internationalization and world citizenry when fewer than six in 10 young Americans ages 18 to 24 cannot find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, according to a 2006 National Geographic-Roper Public Affairs Geographic Literacy Study. Sending a fraction of our college students abroad will not make a dent in that reality.
Even more disturbing is the reality that our bilingual education dialog in this country is at odds with the international education dialog. Why is it more admirable for a college student to spend one semester abroad in a circumstance of his/her choosing, probably with few real academic consequences, and come back with a fairly good command of a foreign language when, at the same time, little Juan or Joon-Li finds himself in a sink-or-swim situation in elementary school with no support and no one admiring his efforts to achieve bilingualism.
I love international study, but we have to wake up and deal with reality. Americans are paying for the apartheid wall, all the while patting themselves on the back at being able to send Sam or Suzie to pick a few olives so we can call ourselves global citizens.

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