 |
 |
 |
 |
committee press room proposal for the institute civic engagement center
|
Press Releases
|
|
Press Room March 14, 2006 CONTACT:
Columnist Thomas L. Friedman Inaugural Speaker St. Paul, Minn.--Pulitzer-Prize winning New York Times columnist and author Thomas L. Friedman will be the inaugural speaker at Macalester College's newly created Institute for Global Citizenship, an innovative approach to educating students to become citizen leaders in a changing world. Friedman, a native of St. Louis Park, will discuss his book on globalization, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the 21st Century, at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 28. Because of limited seating, the lecture will be open only to the Macalester community and not the general public. Media members are welcome. Kofi Annan, Macalester Class of 1961, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, will speak as part of the Institute's inaugural activities on Saturday, April 22. His talk will also be for members of the Macalester community. The Institute for Global Citizenship is intended to advance, embody and highlight Macalester's distinctive mission of academic excellence, internationalism, multiculturalism and service. The result of more than two years of planning and discussion, the Institute will bring together academic and co-curricular activities ranging from international studies to community service, as well as develop new programs inside the classroom and in the community. The mission of the Institute is "to encourage, promote and support rigorous learning that prepares students for lives as effective and ethical 'global citizen-leaders;' innovative scholarship that enriches the public and academicdiscourse on important issues of global significance; and meaningful service that enhances such learning and/or scholarship while enriching the communities within which Macalester is embedded." In addition to the major addresses by Friedman and Annan, other Institute activities will include an annual spring conference focusing on students' work in civic engagement; visiting scholars; new study-abroad ventures for students; new courses and new opportunities for students to partner with community organizations. "We are trying both to strengthen our commitment to prepare students for engaged citizenship and socially responsible leadership and to forge our own work on internationalism, multiculturalism and service in a more compelling, integrated and intellectually powerful whole," said Macalester President Brian Rosenberg. Rosenberg noted that the motivation behind the Institute is the shared commitment within the Macalester community to strengthening "a sense not merely of what would be good for Macalester, but of what good Macalester, through its graduates, can do in the world." The Institute will be headed by Professor Ahmed Samatar, currently dean of international studies and programming, who will now become dean of the Institute. Andrew Latham, a political science professor, will be an associate dean, as will Karin Trail-Johnson, now director of the Community Service Office. The Institute will have a campus-wide steering committee as well as an outside Advisory Board composed of distinguished alumni, scholars, public officials and community leaders with demonstrated records of responsible citizenship and leadership. "I am personally honored and challenged to be named dean of the Institute, but, more importantly, I am gratified that Macalester is creating an organization that brings together in one place the activities and scholarship that provide focus for our long-held community values," said Dean Samatar. "With the creation of the Institute, Macalester asserts itself as an academic leader in internationalism, multiculturalism and civic engagement." Friedman joined The Times in 1981 and was appointed Beirut bureau chief in 1982. In 1984 he was transferred from to Jerusalem, where he served as Israel bureau chief until 1988. Friedman was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Lebanon) and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting (from Israel). He won a third Pulitzer for commentary in 2002. A graduate of St. Louis Park High School, Friedman received a B.A. in Mediterranean studies from Brandeis University in 1975. In 1978 he received a Master of Philosophy degree in Modern Middle East studies from Oxford. Macalester College, founded in 1874, is a national liberal arts college with a full-time enrollment of 1,841 students. Macalester is nationally recognized for its long-standing commitment to academic excellence, internationalism, multiculturalism and civic engagement.
|
|
|
|