Newswise — Their trip postponed due to an outbreak of ethnic violence in their home province, more than a dozen police officers from Kosovo are interning with American law enforcement agencies in an unassuming town in the rural Midwest.
At the same time in that same Midwestern town delegates from China, France, Morocco, and Slovakia, will gather to formulate economic development plans to take back and implement in their home regions.
Meanwhile, some two dozen representatives from Morocco will be in the same town at the same time gaining insight into how the American sports phenomenon operates.
As America deals with the pangs of maintaining healthy international relations with an ever-restless global community, a state university in a bucolic corner of Western Indiana is quietly having its own modest influence upon far-flung corners of the globe. In the next month alone, groups from six different countries will be at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind., to take part in three different programs focusing on international need.
In an age when technology and global communication networks have opened new windows to the world to once-isolated regions, higher ed institutions are playing an increasing " albeit inconspicuous " role in international diplomacy. While academia's international relations maintain an intrinsic emphasis on education, they carry subsequent side benefits as well " goodwill and diplomacy that lead to greater cultural understanding.
"International relations have become even more acutely important given Sept. 11 and the high pitch of tensions abroad," remarks ISU president Lloyd W. Benjamin III, a member of the Committee on International Education for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. "As responsible institutions of higher learning, we are particularly interested in collaborative efforts that help broaden cultural exchanges and enhance contacts benefiting people, businesses and education in Indiana."
Since taking the helm of Indiana State University in July of 2000, Benjamin has made a concentrated effort to involve the university in the international scene for higher education. During Benjamin's four-year tenure, ISU has formed partnerships with universities in Thailand, Morocco, China and Russia. Other partnerships are in the works.
"The agreements we have signed," Benjamin said, "enable our faculty to apply their expertise in another setting, a global setting, often in areas where need is great and interest in our system of higher education is high."
ISU's links with Morocco are among the university's strongest international ties. In the midst of sweeping education reforms
Not only is there an exchange agreement between ISU and Moroccan educational institutes, the first of its kind for Morocco, a $120,000 grant from the United States Agency for International Development is making possible a leadership training program for Moroccan sports administrators. As part of the 18-month program, officials from Morocco's Ministry of Higher Education, Hassan II University Mohammedia and the Moroccan Royal Soccer Federation will be at ISU for three weeks in June to take part in workshops on sport management, coordinate soccer camps and visit NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis and sports venues like Conseco Fieldhouse, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the RCA Dome.
Gaston Fernandez, executive director of ISU's Center for International Affairs, notes that the exchange comes at a time when Morocco plays an increased role in the Middle East.
"Morocco is one of the longest standing allies of the United States," Fernandez said. "Historically, it is a country that we have been closest with in that region of the world, and it is a model of a country that demonstrates tolerance and diversity, many of the values that we believe in. Our countries have much in common, and at this point in the region, it is absolutely critical of the United States to be supportive of countries that are supportive of those values."
Last summer, ISU hosted about 20 university presidents, vice presidents and deans from Moroccan institutes of higher learning for three weeks of leadership training, and in April, an ISU delegation met with Moroccan educators and government leaders to discuss sweeping education reforms in the North African country.
Benjamin said relationships like ISU's with Morocco is an invaluable part of the diplomatic process because it leads to a cultural exchange of ideology, as well as ideas.
"As we try to come to understand that part of the world " and ultimately I think understanding is absolutely fundamental to peaceful existence " this relationship is simply one step that we can take to help promote good relations with that country and with their help have a better lens onto the near Eastern world," he said.
ISU's other international initiatives include:
"¢ A group of 13 members of the Kosovo Police Service School who will work with city, county and state law enforcement departments, as well as make visits to federal, county and state correctional facilities. During their month-long stay in Terre Haute, three of the Kosovar interns will work with ISU's department of curriculum, instruction and media technology to develop a training curriculum to take back with them to the Kosovo Police Service School. ISU ties with Kosovo have developed since October when David Hofmeister, chair of ISU's department of curriculum, instruction and media technology, spent a month in the province working with the Kosovo Police Service School in Pristina as part of the U.N.'s Mission in Kosovo.
"¢ An global economic and enterprise development program which will team ISU graduate students with grad students from China, France, Morocco, and Slovakia. Overseen by faculty advisors from their respective universities, the international students will give a presentation on the economic situation of their home region. The ISU students, overseen by their own faculty advisors, will partner with the international students to formulate economic development plans unique to the distinct situations. Later, ISU's graduate students and faculty advisors will travel to the foreign countries to help present implementation plans to leaders there.
"¢ A longstanding exchange program between ISU's Department of Social Work and the social work department at Tambov State University in Tambov, Russia. That relationship has spawned a philanthropic interest in orphanages in and around Tambov which has raised more than $2,100, as well as non-momentary donations during the past year alone.
Last year, money raised by ISU was enough to purchase a new commercial-size refrigerator for an orphanage that was using a small apartment-sized efficiency unit as its only refrigerator for nearly 40 children. And in May, a small ISU took seven suitcases with 490 pounds worth of stuffed animals, toys, books, candy and winter hats and gloves. While the relationship between the two social work departments has formed over the past eight years, a multidisciplinary program is being introduced that will open the doors for an exchange of students studying sociology, psychology, education or nursing, among other programs.
"¢ An international emphasis in the arts in Western Indiana. The ISU Music Department's Visiting Artist Series is heavily weighted with international talent, with a lineup including musicians from Spain, China, Bulgaria, Zimbabwe and Indian, among others. The Theater Department has been host to acting troupes from Russia, Germany, Trinidad and Ireland. The university's Convocation Series, last year included the Dance Company of Siberia, the Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats and the Three Irish Tenors.
"It really positions [ISU] in a privileged role in terms of contributing to the public diplomacy of this country," Fernandez said of the university's international involvement. "We're constantly being challenged to engage with the world. That is part of our responsibility as a state institution. It is part of our responsibility as citizens of a great nation, and I think the involvement of Indiana State University in projects like these really help support the national purpose, the positive spread of values and attitudes that reflect the very best in our society. And I think in that sense we are contributing in our own modest way, but yet significantly, to international relations and an international understanding."
The visit from Kosovar police officers will take place from May 24-June 22, the international economic development workshop is scheduled from June 13-25 and the Moroccan sports administrators are scheduled to visit ISU from June 13-July 4. Three different international groups will be on campus from June 13-22.
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