Peking University, Nov. 12, 2012: On November 2, Lee C. Bollinger, the ninth President of Columbia University, gave his keynote speech on how to face the global challenge and what universities should do in the global era at Diaoyutai State Guest House.
“To be sure, we have many differences in our respective societies, but anyone who has spent any time on both sides of the Pacific, grasp immediately the deep commonality of global challenges we face together the years ahead.” Bollinger began his speech with the close relationship between China and the US. He said, “We have now left behind the time when any single nation can successfully address matters with great consequences on one’s own. This is true for the United States and this is true for China.” As he illustrated, in today’s world, nations and their citizens must be increasingly involved in what is happening beyond their borders. The strongest evidence of this global world is apparent in the arena of economics and communications.
Although this global society is emerging quickly, the new reality is not that widely understood. To address this problem, Bollinger, as the President of Columbia University, suggests that universities should shoulder a larger responsibility for educating the next generation about this new world and for clearly describing the contours of the global society. Taking Columbia University as an example, it has now established 8 Columbia Global Centers all around the world, including Beijing. It aims at bringing together scholars, students, public officials, private enterprises and innovators from abroad ranges of fields. This in-country relationship is fascinating and well responses among students. “We as the world’s great universities must reinvent ourselves institutionally if we are to be renewed intellectually, and if we are to remain true to our mission,” said Bollinger.
The core values of higher education must be remained unchanged—to instinctively recoil from oversimplification or the refusal to think hard about any subject. This is also what Bollinger suggested. For students in outstanding universities, it’s not enough to believe something instinctively, but being able to explain itself, to offer ideas, to defend one’s assumption and prove it to be right. “To be sure we don’t always look up to our ideal, but we always try and we often come close.” Bollinger spoke highly of the reasoning and debating.
Apart from within the university, Bollinger thought that university must conduct itself with some significant regards to concerns of the outside world. “Our intellectual curiosity must be curved by reality if we want to have an impact on society. On the other hand, the real world, especially its public forums, must absorb the wisdom of academic knowledge and perhaps most importantly, must continually absorb some of the scholarly character nurtured in our universities,” he explained.
Lee C. Bollinger ended his speech with great inspiration and actions were called on to face the global challenge, “Everything depends on the people and the choices they make within the societies and in the new global public forum; Everything depends on the quality of mind undermine these decisions taken; Everything depends on our ability to educate future generations for this new inter-dependent world.”
Reported by: Zhao Xiaowei
Edited by: Zhang Jiang
