Essay Instructions: -Read Dr. Martha Piper??s speech delivered to the Vancouver Board of Trade
-Write an essay detailing your reasons for either agreeing or disagreeing with her assertions, based on your personal experiences and expectations of a university education system.
??I would like to begin by thanking the Vancouver Board of Trade for inviting me to speak to you again today. Having been here just a year ago, I am pleased to have been invited back. It is always a privilege to address the Board, and I would like to acknowledge and thank Farris for their sponsorship of this event.
Although almost a month has elapsed since the closing ceremonies of the 2004 Olympics in Athens, we still feel disappointed when we consider the Canadian performance at this most celebrated of world athletics events. The more so, perhaps, when we contemplate the role we must play on the world stage, right here in Vancouver in 2010. Only a year ago Canada was profiled as a moose in sunglasses on the cover of the Economist. We were described as a country that was ??cool??. But, as the Globe and Mail so aptly stated, ??At the Athens Olympics, Canada has gone cold.?? What then does all of this mean? And what does this have to do with universities in 2010?
Analysts throughout the country have done their best to interpret the Canadian Olympic record. But in the end, let no excuses be heard. As the Globe noted: ??Medals do matter. Not in the fevered way they once mattered to the old East Bloc countries, desperate for legitimacy. And not because, having suddenly arrived as the moose in sunglasses, this country is anxious to stay in the spotlight a while. It matters because Canada should aspire to excellence, not only in athletics but also in the arts, medicine, science and education.??
It is that clarion call for ??excellence???Xexcellence in the arts, medicine, science, and education as well as in athletics?Xthat I would like to speak about today. I want to go beyond making what you might think a predictable pitch for higher education. I want to address a particular kind of education?Xan education that defines excellence in all that we do?Xan education that prepares our students to be true Olympians ?Xan education that creates outstanding citizens for ??Canada??s place in the world.??
As a guide in this discussion, I??d like to enlist the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson. Few people contributed more to defining Canada in the 20th century than Lester Pearson, Nobel Peace Prize Winner ?V a man whose efforts helped to promote Canada??s worldwide reputation for integrity and moral leadership.
But more than a great statesman, Lester Pearson showed himself to be a man of prescient vision, a man who understood, long before the rest of us, how small the world had already become. In 1946?X58 years ago?XLester Pearson said this:
??Fear and suspicion engendered in Iran can easily spread to Great Bear Lake above the Arctic Circle in Canada and bedevil economic developments there. There is, now, no refuge in remoteness.??
No refuge then; certainly no refuge today; and most definitely no refuge in 2010.
Over the past several years, the foundation of what we believe constitutes a civil society has been shaken?Xproviding us with evidence that we indeed are not able to find refuge in our remoteness. The age of mega-terror that began three years ago on September 11, 2001 with an attack on the World Trade Centre, has moved on to Middle School No. 1 in Beslan, Russia. The murder of innocent children, coupled with events such as the spread of the SARS virus, and the Iraq War, all have underlined the fact that we are not isolated from world events that occur in far-off regions of the globe?Xthat our remoteness as a northern nation can neither protect nor isolate us from political or environmental threats that are geographically distant.
For the inescapable truth is that we all feel vulnerable, wherever we reside, to the kind of fear that is generated by the globalization of terror and the interconnectedness of our economies. What is clear is that the world has been contaminated by conflicts that arise from misunderstanding and mistrust, and is threatened by widespread and deepening political, social and economic disparities.
So what do we do? In the short term, whether it is by fighting a ??War on Terrorism,?? trying to secure our borders, or providing subsidies to protect our ??national interests,?? the powers that be have attempted to either cut out an infected part, or build barriers to protect us from the rest of the world.
What has now become clear, however, is that there must be another solution. If we are to live in one small, interconnected world, we must all assume and fulfill our responsibilities as citizens of that world. For we are not engaged in a conflict in the conventional sense. The opponent is not another country that can be defeated or held at arms?? length. The enemy is ignorance and intolerance; and what these produce is terror and revenge.
We are confronted by a battle in which a university, every university, must lead. The universities of the 21st century, Canadian universities in particular, must meet the challenge posed by ignorance and intolerance by assuming the leading role in educating the new ??global citizens??: that is, citizens who will understand the world in which we live, citizens who will ensure the survival of a civil society?Xa society in which all individuals, regardless of race, ethnicity, intellectual ability, or religious beliefs, can express themselves without fear, exercise their individual human rights and live in healthy, safe, respectful, and economically strong and trusting communities.
What then constitutes a global citizen? As I watched the 2004 Olympic games, I was reminded of the Greek philosopher Diogenes, who when asked where he came from, replied ??I am a citizen of the world.?? He meant by this that he refused to be defined simply by his local origins and group memberships; he argued that each of us dwells, in effect, in two communities?Xthe local community of our birth, and the broader community of human argument and aspiration.
It is these two communities coming together within an individual that I believe constitutes global citizenship; it is these two communities coming together that should inform the spirit of our efforts in 2010. Our goal must be to educate future global citizens who see themselves not simply as citizens of a local region but also as human beings bound to all other human beings by ties of common concern and mutual understanding.
And what if we don??t succeed in meeting this goal? What if we falter in our educational task, or choose other priorities? Why is it essential that universities move boldly in structuring their curriculums and learning environments to foster global citizenship?
Lester Pearson, in the 1950s, warned that humans were moving into ??an age when different civilizations will have to learn to live side by side in peaceful interchange, learning from each other, studying each other??s history and ideals and art and culture, mutually enriching each others?? lives. The alternative, in this overcrowded little world, is misunderstanding, tension, clash, and catastrophe.??
??Misunderstanding, tension, clash and catastrophe:?? While it may have taken us 50 years to understand Pearson??s advice, it is increasingly clear that we no longer have the luxury to wait another 50 years to act. The call for ??learning?? has never before been so compelling. The question now is not ??why?? but rather ??how.??
How do universities and a nation educate global citizens? This is a question that UBC is currently debating as we formulate our vision for 2010, which reads:
The University of British Columbia, aspiring to be one of the world??s best universities, will prepare students to become exceptional global citizens, promote the values of a civil and sustainable society, and conduct outstanding research to serve the people of British Columbia, Canada and the world.??
How shall we identify the knowledge and scholarship that will assist in both defining our Canadian identity and our role as global citizens?
As we grapple with the risks and rewards of global integration, we are challenged to define what it is to be ??Canadian.?? Whether we are speaking of our health-care system, multi-culturalism, Canadian sovereignty, or our role as the host nation for the Olympics in 2010, it is critical that we understand who we are and what we value. We must look to Canadian literature, history, political science and demography; Canadian film, theatre and music; Canadian sociology, geography, and aboriginal studies?V if we are to define a Canadian identity. We must identify what is the best of Canada and share it with the world.
But knowing who we are is not enough?Xwe must also have an understanding of the world that takes us beyond our own Canadian borders.
In thinking about identifying what is distinctively Canadian, I was struck by an article in last week??s Economist that suggested that if social policies were commodities Sweden would have a large surplus on its trade balance. This small nation of nine million people has already exported to Britain active labour market policies, a model for universal childcare and a merged prison and probation service. The Swedes?? success in such matters comes from having determined their own identity, recognized their own distinct strengths, and sharing those strengths with the world.
Thomas Friedman in his best selling book The Lexus and the Olive Tree makes the compelling case for global understanding through the synthesis of knowledge from a variety of perspectives.
He argues that today the traditional boundaries between six disciplines?Xpolitics, culture, technology, finance, national security and ecology?Xare disappearing when it comes to understanding global issues. Friedman equates it to putting on glasses and seeing the world in 6-D or six dimensions.
To be globally literate you have to learn how to synthesize information from each of these disparate perspectives to produce a picture of the world that you could never arrive at if you looked at it from a singular point of view. Simply put, you have to be creative, looking for solutions from a variety of perspectives and using every aspect of your consciousness to be innovative and ingenious.
Innovative and ingenious. The Hilton Hotel chain now offers a totally new type of room called a Creativity Suite. Designed to stimulate creativity, these suites come with sectional sofas that can be easily rearranged for impromptu meetings; they provide plasma screen televisions, a Home Entertainment System, an iMac computer and a full-body massage chair. One of the living-room walls is a chalkboard, and a selection of art supplies is part of each suite??s ??invention box??. The minibar has brain food?XSoy Crisps and energy-boosting Gingseng supplements. Even the shower features a writing board and grease pencils should inspiration strike mid-shampoo.
In many ways, these Suites represent the type of creative learning environment we need to be providing our students. We must encourage students to think creatively and to access and integrate information from a variety of sources. At UBC, the new Irving K. Barber Learning Centre will assist us in doing just that through its provision of the latest forms of learning technologies.
In the 20th century, graduates were expected to leave the university having acquired a command of one discipline; they were secure in the knowledge that with this one discipline they might pursue successful careers as a health professional in a local hospital, or as a financial analyst for a national bank.
But today the scope of practice is the planet Earth, and the global integration of technology, finance, trade, and information is occurring in a way that is influencing wages, interest rates, living standards, culture, job opportunities, wars, weather, environmental and human health all over the world. Our graduates must be able to think laterally and creatively, with an appreciation that the solutions to the most complex issues will come from the inter-connection and overlap of disciplines. For if we are to achieve a civil and sustainable society, rather than ??misunderstanding, tension, clash, and catastrophe,?? we must do as Pearson suggested?X??learning from each other, studying each other??s istory and ideals, art and culture???Xin order to live side-by-side in peaceful interchange.
Peaceful interchange. We prepare for war with energy and vigor?Xeven with intelligence?Xbecause it is a task we can easily grasp and understand. War is what??s left when all the subtlety and complexity has been stripped away from a disagreement among humans; when logic and persuasion seem of no more use. War is what happens when we use advanced knowledge to create and apply missile defense systems and military technologies.
Peace is much harder. Peace tests us. Peace demands tolerance, understanding, and forgiveness. Peace insists that we embrace complexity as we embrace the ideals and art and culture of those whose priorities seem a little different from our own.
Canadians have a long tradition of working for peace, through our role as peace-keepers for the U.N. Today, we have an opportunity to go one step further: to move beyond peace keeping and lead in peace preparation. And I believe that this preparation does indeed belong with and begin in our educational institutions, with universities showing the way.
How should we as a nation support this critical educational effort to promote peace? Let me suggest a two-pronged approach. First, I believe that Canadian governments at every level should increase their support for the kind of research and scholarship that will help inform the public policy and develop the social programs upon which a civil society is built?Xresearch and scholarship that will help Canadians prepare for peace. While university research was deployed in the ??50s and ??60s to form the basis of many military and aerospace advances, university research in the 21st century must focus its efforts and resources on preparing for peace.
Governments must be prepared to invest in such a program. My model here is health research, where the argument has been advanced that a minimum of 1% of the investment made in health expenditures should be invested in health research. Correspondingly, I would suggest that 1% of all public expenditures on ??civil society?? programs be invested in research in the human sciences. Consider the amounts currently invested in social welfare, the corrections system, national defense, foreign affairs, immigration, heritage and culture, and Indian and Northern Affairs, to name a few broad areas. Why would we not consider investing a minimum of 1% of those expenditures into research that would permit us to better understand the values that underpin civility, tolerance, human rights, democracy, and peace?
Second, we need to contemplate a significant role for the federal government in post-secondary education. It is well nderstood that a sound education is the foundation for a strong and prosperous society. But if universities in the 21st century are to educate global citizens, individuals who are able to define Canada??s place in the world, graduates who are active participants in peace preparation, citizens who understand that there is no refuge in our remoteness, then we need to revisit the role of the Canadian government in post-secondary education.
As Jeffrey Simpson pointed out in last week??s Globe and Mail, our future lies in education, and the time has come for the federal government to recognize its legitimate role in funding post-secondary education. While the federal government has always had a role in the funding of university research, it now needs to consider a role in the funding of instruction?Xfunding that goes beyond the provincial mandates and jurisdiction?Xfunding that will address the need to develop and foster curriculums that will result in the education of globally literate and creative Canadians from
Newfoundland to Vancouver Island. Without such an initiative, our efforts to create a sustainable society and prepare for peace will be sporadic at best and non-existent at worse. This to my mind is what is meant by ??Canada??s place in the world??: such a concept goes far beyond diplomacy or foreign aid, it extends beyond international exchanges, summits, or hosting Olympic games for that matter?Xit goes to Canada??s education of future generations of global citizens committed to the preparation of peace and the sustainability of the whole world.
Today, despite criticism of our performance in the Olympic Games of 2004, it is fair to suggest that Canada is still one of the most admired middle powers in the world. But if we look beyond Athens and review the challenges we face both at home and abroad?Xthe environmental threat of climate change; globalization of our economy though outsourcing; the need to review our immigration policies to meet our future labour needs; the political threat of international terrorism; the war in Iraq and possible participation in a missile defense system?Xit is clear that now is the time to revisit our nation??s vision of a civil society and our commitment to global learning.
Last year, in a study conducted by the European Commission, UBC ranked 35th among the top 500 universities in the world. Clearly a remarkable achievement. What is obvious is that we Canadians have the excellence, the scope, depth and diversity to take our place in the world. All we need now is the commitment of our nation, the determination to contribute, and the strength and courage associated with all great Olympians. For truly, British Columbians and Canadians can make a winning difference.
Thank you. ??
