THE RECORD OnlineSpring 200021st Century Education: An International Perspectiveby, David M. Thompson '98 "I have traveled much . . . in Concord,” wrote nineteenth-century transcendentalist, Henry David Thoreau. Similarly, over a century later, one might hear a Greenville College student quip: “I have traveled much . . . in Greenville.” After all, Greenville College’s professors and administrators continue to give their students tools to journey through the liberal arts experientially. However, in this 21st-century globalized world, perhaps even Thoreau would have been tempted to leave Concord’s Walden Pond to spend time overseas, so may Greenville College students.
As Thoreau observed, a student certainly can encounter life next to a pond. However, these days young scholars have the opportunity to experience life in Concord and in China, by Walden Pond and by the Red Sea. Greenville College’s affiliation with the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities (CCCU) makes it possible for students to study in China, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Russia. Moreover, many Greenville professors sponsor interterm trips to Australia, Mexico, Ireland, and elsewhere. In these ways, current and future Greenville students can choose to travel much—in Greenville and in the world. Consequently, global travel and cultural education is important because it allows Greenville students to experience the liberal arts. Students see international politics firsthand; they hear ideologies that undergird foreign societies; they feel the hugs of new friends; and they too often smell the rancor of poverty. Through sensing the liberal arts, students prepare themselves for the increasingly global job market, but more importantly, they are challenged to examine their faith and personhood in this “small world.” Indeed, our world of airplanes and computers is small. As a result, Greenville College students must operate within an increasingly pluralistic American culture, as well as the shrinking global one. This trend of globalization raises some serious questions. Who will preserve our environment? Who will address international political and military conflicts? Who will comfort and empower the destitute? Who will forge international business relationships that foster peace? Who will write novels that wrestle with the universal human condition? Who will create art and music that inspire people to see our creative God? Who will consider the ethics of medical and scientific research? Who will preach and teach us how to live amidst a diverse global culture? Hopefully, Greenville alumni. Fortunately, many Greenville alumni already contribute in these ways. Even so, in order to address life in our rapidly changing world, current and future Greenville academicians will be even better prepared to address the global liberal arts questions after traveling in Greenville and in the world. To begin, traveling students often develop a globally sensitive faith and intellect. With a “home base” in Greenville, students can explore the world for a semester or an interterm and then return to Greenville in order to critically consider how to love neighbors who are different, to examine the role of the church in culture, and to solidify their Christian worldview. And because Greenville is a Christian liberal arts institution, these students can work to integrate their strengthened faith within the context of their classroom learning.
In addition to helping students mature intellectually and spiritually, Greenville’s 1999-2000 Lincoln Laureate Scholar Anna Schoenhals believes study abroad programs benefit Greenville College. After all, says Anna, “Students who travel and study in other cultures represent and advertise Greenville elsewhere.” Moreover, students who study abroad add to Greenville’s academic and spiritual environment upon their return. Anna says of her semester in Costa Rica, “It expanded my worldview in countless ways—Academically, it worked me; spiritually, it worked me; and physically, it worked me. I felt like I had something important to share with the [Greenville] community when I came back—a piece of Central America.” As we step into a new century and millennium, Christian liberal arts education continues to expand and change. In Thoreau’s day, few of Concord’s citizens could have imagined that after just 150 years people would fly around the world and talk to each other through computers. However, in the 21st century, millions of people are participating in this kind of globalization. Consequently, I am happy that Greenville College continues to challenge students to consider the liberal arts beside “Walden Ponds” and across oceans.
Last updated: May
18, 2000 |
