The Daily Texan – Jeremi Suri
“We send more students overseas than ever before, and that is good, but many of them have formulaic experiences of sharing their distant classrooms with other study abroad students…Real international education is what I witnessed this weekend, when I visited Abu Dhabi to give a series of lectures. Among the many people whom I met from countless countries was a former student of mine (Plan II and Middle Eastern Studies) who is now working as an entrepreneur in the Middle East. She is a shy, Christian Texas girl who gained fluent Arabic from years of tedious practice, repeated trips to the Middle East and many hours of studying the region and international affairs in general. She has done all the standard things, but she has also pushed herself outside the bounds of the obvious and the comfortable to experience foreign cultures in non-American ways…She loves America, but she is making herself a deep and personal part of another region and way of life. She is not merely bridging cultures; she is living in multiple mindsets at the same time…Americans are so poor at achieving this depth of connection with foreigners. We speak few foreign languages. We travel in predictable bubbles and demand predictable encounters. We know so little about people and cultures beyond our borders (as well as those within). We are strong and rich, and we instinctively expect the world to work with us on our terms, even when we are in other people’s homes…So here is what I propose for students: Seek depth over breadth in your international education. Identify a region that fascinates you, study its language and history and then force yourself to visit, explore, work and connect as an individual, not a participant in a heavily guided program…Future success as an international citizen comes in crossing the mental boundaries that matter much more than the lines on a map or a job application.”(more)