A wish for Asian University graduates
Asian University hosted its annual commencement ceremony last week.
It’s always a great pleasure to attend these ceremonies. It is, by far, the happiest event of our academic year.
The graduates look very scholarly in their caps and gowns. Polished and painted for the occasion, their faces animated with broad smiles, they appear almost unrecognizable, surreal. Are these the same sleepy students who dragged themselves from the dorm to attend my early morning psychology lectures? There must be some mistake!
Commencement draws friends and family members to celebrate an event many have sacrificed for, and anticipated for many years. Some may have, at times, wondered if this day would ever come.
Faculty members appear distinguished in colorful robes reflecting the diversity and international character of their academic backgrounds. Diplomats and distinguished guests are on hand to add an air of even greater importance to the occasion, as if such were needed. Flowers are blooming everywhere. Even the rain, which fell in sheets during the earliest portion of the day, cannot hold out long against the positive vibes our celebrants are putting out.
Commencement is an important event, a rite of passage. Traditionally, it is a time to reflect on what has been accomplished, and on what lies ahead.
At a minimum, we hope that our graduates will have absorbed some of our knowledge: the basic language, and concepts necessary for them to function as professionals within their respective areas of specialization. We hope their diplomas will offer them a means toward a lucrative and fulfilling career, or provide a strong foundation toward a more advanced degree.
But we wish more for them. Much more.
The knowledge we have provided our students during the four or so years during which we have commanded their attention is woefully inadequate. While it may represent the best our generation has to offer, it has, nevertheless, proven to insufficient for solving the greatest problems facing us in the twenty-first century. We need the help of their generation to construct new knowledge and find new solutions.
Our current state of knowledge has not provided a workable solution to the problem of a growing world population, and the resulting stresses this puts on our limited global resources. As our population grows, growth in food and energy production must keep pace. Can we continue to meet the most basic needs of our growing population? How will we do it?
Our dependence upon fossil fuels has gotten us into a jam. We now find that the planet which sustains our life, all life that we know of, is warming. Despite our understanding of this process, and the doomsday predictions, we appear unable to summon the will to take the necessary steps to curb this alarming trend. Our current state of knowledge appears insufficient to tackle the problem of global warming.
As human populations have expanded across the globe, the populations of other species are on the decline, and many are becoming extinct. While species extinction is a natural and ongoing process, scientists warn that the rate of extinctions is accelerating, from 100 to 1000 times the normal rate. This increasing rate of extinction is primarily driven by a loss of habitats, due to increased farming, deforestation, and fragmentation of habitats resulting from road construction. An extinct species is gone forever. Our current state of knowledge has proven inadequate to stop this heartbreaking trend.
As a result of climate change, coupled with the demands of irrigation agriculture and industry, global demands for water are on the rise. Many regions are getting drier. How will we meet increasing demand for this most precious of all resources? The solution has so far eluded us.
Poverty, racism, sexism, discrimination, inequality, torture, genocide, terrorism, the exploitation of women and children, the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, illiteracy, HIV-AIDS and other infectious diseases, universal access to healthcare, suffering brought about by natural disasters, the list of problems besetting us seems endless. How do we think about these issues? How might we think about these issues?
Yesterday’s solutions may have worked yesterday. Today’s problems require new, innovative solutions. We cannot rest on our laurels. We need constructive criticism of our most sacred cows. We need new knowledge, new solutions.
During their time with us, I hope our graduates will have sharpened their capacity for critical thinking and their sense of social responsibility. I hope they leave Asian U. with a sense of dissatisfaction with the limited knowledge we have given them, a readiness to imagine better solutions, and a determination that better ways of thinking and doing are possible, even necessary.
When it comes to thinking and acting on today’s important issues, I hope our graduates will do better than we have.
It’s always a great pleasure to attend these ceremonies. It is, by far, the happiest event of our academic year.
The graduates look very scholarly in their caps and gowns. Polished and painted for the occasion, their faces animated with broad smiles, they appear almost unrecognizable, surreal. Are these the same sleepy students who dragged themselves from the dorm to attend my early morning psychology lectures? There must be some mistake!
Commencement draws friends and family members to celebrate an event many have sacrificed for, and anticipated for many years. Some may have, at times, wondered if this day would ever come.
Faculty members appear distinguished in colorful robes reflecting the diversity and international character of their academic backgrounds. Diplomats and distinguished guests are on hand to add an air of even greater importance to the occasion, as if such were needed. Flowers are blooming everywhere. Even the rain, which fell in sheets during the earliest portion of the day, cannot hold out long against the positive vibes our celebrants are putting out.
Commencement is an important event, a rite of passage. Traditionally, it is a time to reflect on what has been accomplished, and on what lies ahead.
At a minimum, we hope that our graduates will have absorbed some of our knowledge: the basic language, and concepts necessary for them to function as professionals within their respective areas of specialization. We hope their diplomas will offer them a means toward a lucrative and fulfilling career, or provide a strong foundation toward a more advanced degree.
But we wish more for them. Much more.
The knowledge we have provided our students during the four or so years during which we have commanded their attention is woefully inadequate. While it may represent the best our generation has to offer, it has, nevertheless, proven to insufficient for solving the greatest problems facing us in the twenty-first century. We need the help of their generation to construct new knowledge and find new solutions.
Our current state of knowledge has not provided a workable solution to the problem of a growing world population, and the resulting stresses this puts on our limited global resources. As our population grows, growth in food and energy production must keep pace. Can we continue to meet the most basic needs of our growing population? How will we do it?
Our dependence upon fossil fuels has gotten us into a jam. We now find that the planet which sustains our life, all life that we know of, is warming. Despite our understanding of this process, and the doomsday predictions, we appear unable to summon the will to take the necessary steps to curb this alarming trend. Our current state of knowledge appears insufficient to tackle the problem of global warming.
As human populations have expanded across the globe, the populations of other species are on the decline, and many are becoming extinct. While species extinction is a natural and ongoing process, scientists warn that the rate of extinctions is accelerating, from 100 to 1000 times the normal rate. This increasing rate of extinction is primarily driven by a loss of habitats, due to increased farming, deforestation, and fragmentation of habitats resulting from road construction. An extinct species is gone forever. Our current state of knowledge has proven inadequate to stop this heartbreaking trend.
As a result of climate change, coupled with the demands of irrigation agriculture and industry, global demands for water are on the rise. Many regions are getting drier. How will we meet increasing demand for this most precious of all resources? The solution has so far eluded us.
Poverty, racism, sexism, discrimination, inequality, torture, genocide, terrorism, the exploitation of women and children, the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, illiteracy, HIV-AIDS and other infectious diseases, universal access to healthcare, suffering brought about by natural disasters, the list of problems besetting us seems endless. How do we think about these issues? How might we think about these issues?
Yesterday’s solutions may have worked yesterday. Today’s problems require new, innovative solutions. We cannot rest on our laurels. We need constructive criticism of our most sacred cows. We need new knowledge, new solutions.
During their time with us, I hope our graduates will have sharpened their capacity for critical thinking and their sense of social responsibility. I hope they leave Asian U. with a sense of dissatisfaction with the limited knowledge we have given them, a readiness to imagine better solutions, and a determination that better ways of thinking and doing are possible, even necessary.
When it comes to thinking and acting on today’s important issues, I hope our graduates will do better than we have.
posted by Michael | Wednesday, September 28, 2005
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