Gilbert Merkx is out to spread the word that Duke takes international education very seriously, whether by scheduling conferences, increasing Duke's partnerships with high-caliber universities abroad or enhancing the awareness of the University internationally.
As the vice provost for international affairs, Merkx is on a mission that he'll have to travel far and wide to accomplish. But it's also one that others say is desperately needed.
"I've been surprised at how international Duke is," said Judith Kelley, assistant professor of public policy studies, who has worked at both Harvard University and in Denmark over the past five years. "One of Duke's major challenges right now is communicating how international it is. I think its reputation is lagging behind it."
Most immediately, the University will host a research conference on global challenges in U.S. higher education from Jan. 23 to 25. The conference comes a year before the pending reauthorization of the federal Higher Education Act in 2003-04 and will consider the current and future needs for foreign language and international areas studies. The conference specifically will focus on Title VI of the act, which concerns funding for area studies centers.
"Duke is a logical candidate to be a leader and the conference [means that] Duke is stepping up to the plate and saying, 'Yes, we're major players now, even if we weren't 10 years ago,'" said Robert Healy, a professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences and director of the Center for North American Studies.
The conference, held on behalf of the Coalition for International Education, will feature speakers as diverse as U.S. Senator John Edwards, D-N.C., General Motors CEO and President Richard Wagoner and University President Nan Keohane.
Keohane especially has been an advocate for internationalizing higher education and has gone out of her way to travel to places such as Latin America, Asia and Europe during Duke's ongoing $2 billion capital campaign. Merkx added that Keohane is also chairing a group of university presidents this year who are looking at how American institutions can take greater advantage of international universities.
Not everyone, however, believes that enhancing Duke's reputation should be the focus of the University's international strategy.
Alberto Moreiras, Bass professor of romance studies and director of the Center for European Studies, said the best way to increase Duke's reputation is by concentrating on enhancing the actual scholarship.
"It seems that although fame and notoriety and publicity are very good things, they are only good things because they are helpful," he said. "If we do the right thing, we will become a national leader. We don't have to focus on that for it to happen. The way for the vice provost to [enhance Duke's reputation] is not to focus on it, but to focus on the work."
Meanwhile, Margaret Riley, associate dean of Trinity College and director of the Office of Study Abroad, said a recent National Association for Foreign Student Affairs proposal has selected Duke as one of 16 American universities to study for a report on universities that have successfully integrated international studies and students. "What they're looking at is Duke's level of internationalization and then, ultimately, sharing aspects of our internationalization process that will be incorporated into the final report, so that other institutions can [learn from what Duke has done well]," Riley said.
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