An International Tradition

Message from the Assistant Provost

This page (begun March 2005) features a quarterly letter from the Assistant Provost addressing news in OIS, special topics, and updates on progress in"internationalizing" the campus. The document, "Towards a Strategic Plan for Internationalism 2008," can be seen by clicking here.  Past messages can be seen by clicking here.

May 15, 2009

Charge to Graduates, presented at the Honors Convocation of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, by Prof. Julia Douthwaite

I speak to you today as a professor of French and as Assistant Provost for International Studies here at Notre Dame.  As Assistant Provost, I’d like to clue you in to a major effort afoot at the university these days to “globalize” the Notre Dame campus, and to raise visibility of Notre Dame’s impact and presence abroad.  And I’d like to remind you that, as linguists and specialists in the Romance Languages, you have helped us move in this way.  Indeed you represent the cutting-edge of this crucial new trend at Notre Dame.  Here is a brief outline of what globalism represents, and why it is important today.

Globalism is:  cultural literacy

Understanding 

• why business cards must be presented with two hands, instead of one, in Japan
• why a single “no” will signify “yes please” to a host in France
• why the headscarf is worn by both militant feminists and traditionalists in Egypt
• why concepts of early and late, young and old, must be learned and respected in situ

Globalism is:  financial awareness

Predicting

• when the yen will rise or fall on news of grain harvests in the Ukraine
• how Germany’s quarterly unemployment report will impact the Greek economy

Globalism is:  political capital

Discerning 

• why the election of a British prime minister may trigger a labor uprising in Chile
• how to improve the delivery of US aid to the citizens of Haiti
• if a legal ruling in Spain will spread throughout the EU member states

Globalism is:  empathy

Inspiring

• when our spirit of human solidarity moves us to hospitality and service

Globalism is:  concrete, marketable skill acquisition

Learning: 

• how to acquire and maintain near-native fluency in a second language over a lifetime
• how to harness a curiosity with science, engineering or design to impact emerging industries abroad

Globalism is:  based on relationships, trust and information-sharing

Leveraging:      

• where existing relationships can vault us into powerful new collaborations

In sum, Globalism is:   a crucial cluster of skills, habits of mind, and cultural competencies that enables individuals to foresee complications before they arise and collaborate strategically to produce and innovate the goods, services, and knowledge that will power the economy of the next generation, your generation. 

This kind of Global knowledge—whether defined in terms of the arts, business, law, or science—is one of the most urgently needed credentials today.

And it is a credential that you, our beloved students of French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, have acquired.  You should feel quite proud of this accomplishment.  Mastering a second language is no small feat!  Keep your skills alive in years ahead: remain fluent, culturally competent, and globally aware.

As we close this ceremony, my colleagues and I have a few words of wisdom.  They are printed on the program, and we invite you to speak them, together with us, each in turn.

Chi vivra' vedra'    (Live and learn; literally, “who will live, will see”)

Todas as minhas esperanças estão em mim   (All my hopes depend on me)

Mas vale saber que haber  ( It is better to be wise than to be rich.)