After 10 years, International Institute's success evident now and in the future

Updated 4:00 PM September 2, 2003

After 10 years, International Institute's success evident now and in the future

By Kevin Bergquist

As the International Institute (II) celebrates its 10th anniversary this fall, its leader says the institute's impact on campus and across the globe cannot be viewed just on the numerous accomplishments of the past decade.

"Everything that we do will be measured not by what we do at this moment, but by the impact and effect of our students' subsequent work," says Michael Kennedy, institute director and vice provost for international affairs. "We are sitting on a gold mine, and our success will be recognized by what our students accomplish."

LSA Dean Terrence McDonald will join Kennedy to speak at an open house for the International Institute 4-6 p.m. Sept. 9 at the institute's gallery. Kennedy says that while the institute has been a success, the world has changed dramatically since a 1989 report recommended II's formation.

Kennedy points to two fundamental global transformations in the last 15 years. He says the end of the Cold War and the events of Sept. 11 and their aftermath have changed U-M's view of, and role in, globalization. The challenge and importance of the institute's work has grown dramatically, he says.

"There is a new sense of responsibility and public engagement that enters into our work," Kennedy says. "To think about the relationship between American identity and global responsibility is now on the agenda of everyone with a public imagination. We have the greatest opportunity and obligation to think about alternative global futures."

Kennedy was away from Ann Arbor on Sept. 11 and missed the candlelight vigil at the Diag. He says he felt the impact three days later at a directors meeting. Kennedy calls it an incredible moment of solidarity when those involved in international issues became more aware than ever of the public relevance of their academic expertise.

"While [the institute] was developing nicely along the vision of how we might identify with publics abroad, when you shift to questions of who are we?' and who are they?' the character of our work shifts in a profound way," he says. "Every one of us feels our work is more consequential and significant, if also more challenging."

A 1989 report by Professor of Law John Jackson hatched the idea for an international institute. The report said the creation of such an institute was critical to the success of the University. Jackson cited several issues with international studies at U-M, including a focus only on LSA and the perception of its programs as peripheral.

Kennedy says it is hard to imagine today that anyone would call international studies at U-M peripheral or LSA-centered. II works with faculty across the University, he says, with its associate directors hailing from the schools of Public Health and Business, and the institute's steering committee composed of representatives from LSA and nine other schools on campus.

"A lot of universities are trying to figure out how to internationalize their own campuses and they often take U-M's example as something to consider or emulate directly," Kennedy says. "We have been able to invent an international sensibility appropriate for the times and agile enough to respond to the world's challenges."

Kennedy counts among II's successes its contributions to the revival of Middle Eastern, South Asian and Chinese studies, and the development of new areas, including Greek, Korean and European Union studies. He also says there have been significant new hires in natural resources and environment, psychology and public health.

After 10 years, International Institute's success evident now and in the future

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