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 (Left to right) lU President Myles Brand, former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale; Howard Mehlinger, director of IU's Center for Excellence in Education; and Patrick O'Meara, dean of international programs at IU. |
The launch of Sputnik I that day was an event that played to America's most deep-seated societal fears: that new monolith known as the U.S.S.R. was surpassing America in the race for scientific and technical dominance.
And advanced Soviet rocketry? It could only mean one thing. The possibility of global nuclear annihilation was a clear and present danger in the minds of many citizens. Even physicist Edward Teller, the patron saint of the hydrogen bomb, commented that, when Sputnik went up (there were four satellites, the last being launched May 15, 1958), the United States had lost "a battle more important and greater than Pearl Harbor."
But in September 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the momentous national Defense Education Act (NDEA), a piece of legislation that forever bound together national security and global educational pursuit. The new funding infrastructure would set the stage for providing language acquisition and world area studies training to students, at the same time providing for the training of teachers of languages and cultures for future generations.
Last month and 40 years after that initial legislation, the Indiana University Office of International Programs brought together academics, ambassadors, legislators, international foundation executives and others for the 40th anniversary of the enactment of NDEA Title VI legislation. Many of the notables, including IU alumnus James Collins, U.S. ambassador to Russia, had benefitted from opportunities for international education during student years. Collins spoke to the assemblage in a live videocast and responded to conferee questions from his offices in Moscow.
"International Education in American Colleges and Universities: Prospect and Retrospect" drew 395 conferees representing 36 states to Washington, D.C., April 16-17.
"We were honored and delighted to play a role in this conference," said Patrick O'Meara, dean of international programs at IU, whose staff began working with other key players on the IU campus in the spring of 1997 to bring the conference to fruition, through funding from the U.S. Department of Education and IU. Howard Mehlinger, director of IU's Center for Excellence in Education in Bloomington, a research and development center whose mission is to explore appropriate applications of technology in education, assisted O'Meara and his staff during the planning process.
He and O'Meara are collaborating on a book project about the impact of Title VI on higher education and global perspectives.
"The conference had twin purposes," said O'Meara. "First, the plethora of ideas and the variety of constituents attending allowed us not only to recognize the past achievements of Title VI but pointed the way to the future for area studies. The conference reached out to embassy personnel and foundation directors, and that range of participation was significant."
President Bill Clinton sent a letter of support and congratulations to the gathering, which was read by O'Meara at the opening session.
"International studies provide a wonderful opportunity for America's students to increase their knowledge of other countries and cultures and to better understand the world beyond our own borders," wrote Clinton. "Title VI has made an enormous contribution to these programs through graduate fellowships, library development, outreach programs and so much more. Encouraging the free exchange of ideas, knowledge and differing viewpoints, Title VI continues to play a vital role in promoting international understanding and lasting peace."
Also participating in the conference was IU President Myles Brand, who told the assemblage that since accessibility is "the backbone of opportunity," technological change may equal the passage of Title VI in rethinking the domestic and international "boundaries" of the millennium. Investments in multicultural and multilingual education have continued to make the prestige of American universities soar since World War II.
 SUNY Chancellor John W. Ryan |
"That kind of reaffirmation from the former vice president," said O'Meara, "illustrates the need, even in an independent, global context, for international education."
Among other notable Hoosiers participating in the conference were IU Bloomington Chancellor Kenneth Gros Louis; former U.S. Sen. Birch Bayh, and former IU President John W. Ryan, chancellor of the State University of New York System (SUNY). Although U.S. Rep. Lee Hamilton was to be on hand, he was called away to assist President Clinton on his journey to South America during the proceedings.
An International and Area Studies Resources Selected Guide is available upon request from the Office of International Programs.
Go to this Web
site for more on international programs at IU:
http://www.indiana.edu/~intlprog/
Go to this Home Pages archival site to read more:
http://www.iuinfo.indiana.edu/homepages/1121/
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