U.S. Undersecretary of Education Eugene Hickok kicked off the "Global Challenges and U.S. Higher Education Conference" Thursday evening with a speech affirming the Bush administration's support for international and foreign language studies in higher education.
The gathering at Durham's Millenium Hotel comes in anticipation of the 108th Congress' discussion of reauthorization for the Higher Education Act, a bill that would provide funding for global studies at universities.
As top adviser to U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige, Hickok outlined the administration's dedication to fostering international awareness.
Hickok asserted that the tragedy of Sept. 11 makes it even more "important that we continue international exchanges and broaden them." International studies in higher education, he insisted, will be the object of "greater emphasis on how we prepare people for teaching and citizenship."
Considering that many schools still struggle with basic literacy, Hickok cautioned against "putting the cart before the horse" in terms of education.
Despite the administration's increased attention to primary education, he still acknowledged the challenge "to know better the world beyond its borders."
"Our first priority is that people have the tools to learn," he said, adding that "far too many of our kids can't read our own language."
Praising the conference's dedication to an exchange of ideas, Hickok said, "Our goal in this administration is to listen far more than lecture."
Commenting on the purpose of the conference, Gilbert Merkx, Duke's vice provost for international affairs, expressed a desire for "dialogue with the larger higher education community" and to "address our nation's intellectual resources in a time of international crisis."
While no specific policy resolutions would be drafted for the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education bill, Merkx hoped the meeting would provide an academic "foundation for other people who will talk about legislation."
Hickok said the Bush administration's budget proposal last year would have awarded the act a "healthy increase," but with looming budget deficits, its future is uncertain.
Miriam Kazanjian, a consultant for conference sponsor Coalition for International Education, remarked that Hickok's speech "demonstrates the awareness of the importance of international and foreign language education to the nation's future."
Kazanjian maintained her concern about the challenge of dividing limited resources among numerous claimants in the upcoming funding discussion.
The conference, with nearly 300 people in attendance, consisted mostly of professors and administrators from universities across the U.S. and ends Saturday.
Vincent Cornell, director of the University of Arkansas' King Fahd Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, said that he intends to find out "what other institutions are doing... and share insights that we have."
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