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 ผอ. ฟุลไบรท์  ส่งมาเมื่อวันที่ ๑๓ มิ.ย. ๔๘ 

Dear All,
My trip to the States this time was filled with a lot of learning experiences ka. Will
have several pieces of news on the website soon ka.
Today, I just read a Commencement Address 2005 by Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers who gave it on June 9, 2005. He reported to the Harvard Alumni
Association which I found very interesting to share with you all ka.
It is very clear from this address that the university is encouraging both students and faculty to
have increased international exposure and involvement. The President said that the enrollment in
foreign language courses at Harvard has increased 45 percent in the last decade, and enrollment in
Arabic has increased more than three-fold since 2002.
The university also emphasizes more on extension of network of area studies programs to cover every
major region of the world.
The number of Harvard College students studying or working abroad during the
term or the summer has more than doubled in the last few years. In this academic year alone, more
than 800 students - equivalent to roughly half a Harvard class - will have spent some amount of
meaningful time in a foreign country. More than 200 students will be studying abroad for credit
with Harvard faculty, from Barcelona to Beijing.
To promote international understanding, the university includes opportunities to study and work
abroad within a Harvard education while having a firm commitment to bring international students
here to Harvard.
I really like it when the President said 'Harvard is and will remain an American university. But it
must be a university that increasingly welcomes students from all over the world if it is to
provide the best possible learning environment for American students and if it is going to meet its
obligations to the world.'
Its degree students come from nearly 90 different countries. International students account for
nearly one-third of the population of degree students in Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the
Kennedy School, and the Schools of Business, Public Health, and Design. Dean of Admissions Bill
Fitzsimmons estimates that one-third of admitted students in Harvard College speak a language other
than English at home.
The Business School's Global Initiative now has research centers in Hong Kong, Paris, Buenos Aires,
and Tokyo that allow faculty to immerse themselves in the culture and business practices of these
regions, leading to business cases that are more global in perspective than ever before.
The university also has also taken a bold step to dramatically opening its stacks even further
working with Google in a pilot phase of a project that may eventually lead to the digitization of
vast portions of its library collections.
I think this speech  triggers a lot of thoughts for us na ka....we need to retain to be THAI
universities while working harder to offer international opportunities for our students and faculty
which could be through exchanges, research and welcoming of international students/ faculty into
our universities. We should also benefit from the digitally accessed info. for the increase in
global knowledge...... again...so much to do and the most important element is for us to work
together in harmony, not regarding other Thai universities as competitors, jing mai ka?
More very soon ka.
Regards.
Porntip

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