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Columbia College Winter 2013–14 TODAY GLOBAL COLUMBIA A Look at How Columbia College Helps Students Have Global Experiences Contents GLOBAL COLUMBIA give A SPECIAL SECTION yourself a gift 20 How the College Helps Students Have Global Experiences Now more than ever, the College is taking steps to ensure that its students are THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, thinking globally, opening their minds to and setting their sights on the world TREAT YOURSELF TO THE beyond Morningside Heights. BY SHIRA BOss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA BENEFITS AND PRIVILEGES OF 28 A Conversation with President Lee C. Bollinger THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY CLUB Bollinger talks about the philosophy behind the Columbia Global Centers, their impact OF NEW YORK now and in the future, and what it means to be a global citizen in the 21st century. AQ &A WITH CCT EDITOR ALEX SACHARE ’71 32 Global Students Find a Home at Columbia International students reflect on their reasons for choosing the College and their experiences in making the cultural and academic transition. BY NATHALIE ALOnsO ’08 36 Study Abroad Grows in Popularity, Programs and Places New programs and destinations give students myriad ways to enhance their College education with an international experience. Plus: Excerpts from a blog kept by Melissa Chiang ’14 last summer in Shanghai. BY TED RABINOWITZ ’87 BECOME A MEMBER! 40 For Global Alumni, Columbia Made a World of Difference JOIN TODAY! College alumni often trace their success living and working internationally to their liberal arts education, the diverse Columbia student body and the unique nature of New York City. 15 WEST 43 STREET NEW YORK, NY 10036 BY TED RABINOWITZ ’87 TEL: 212.719.0380 www.columbiaclub.org YOUR COLUMBIA CONNECTION COVER PHOTOS: CHAR SMULLYAN; GLOBE ICON: ILLUSTRATION BY R.J. MATSON ’85 Columbia Mag Ad_Holiday_2013_finals.indd 1 11/7/13 7:06 PM MESSAGE FROM DEAN JAMES J. VALENTINI Exploring Global Opportunities hen I met with our students studying abroad make good decisions and the self-confidence that defines every while traveling in Beijing, Paris, London, Columbia College graduate. Hong Kong and Shanghai earlier this year, The College provides hundreds of international opportu- 7 16 96 I asked them about their global experiences. nities for students, from a year in Berlin studying abroad with What were they learning in the classroom? In Columbia faculty to a summer internship with a micro-lending Carl Haber ’80, ’85 GSAS Nzingha Prescod ’15 Gregory Viscusi ’85, ’91 SIPA Wtheir city? What surprised them? Did they feel prepared? How company in Mumbai. Students can study abroad during the year, was their experience abroad complementing their experience on intern or take classes abroad during the summer or do academic our campus? How did they see it as enhancing their future? How research abroad. We offer 16 Columbia-sponsored study abroad DEPARTMENTS did it influence their career plans? What could programs, 110 opportunities to do internships we do as a college to maximize the value of in eight locations overseas and we are develop- WEB EXTRAS 3 Message from Dean James J. Valentini their global experience? ing new programs and enhancing existing pro- View photos from Their answers confirmed that these were grams each year. We have also kicked off a Pres- Helping College students make the most of their global opportunities. Homecoming questions they were thinking about as well. Our idential Global Fellowship program, thanks to students were exploring the global opportuni- the support of President Lee C. Bollinger, which 4 Letters to the Editor View photos from the ties we offer to immerse themselves in another provides funding to first-years to study abroad 5 Within the Family by Editor Alex Sachare ’71 Alexander Hamilton culture, to gain proficiency in another language, during the summer on a Columbia program at Award Dinner to learn how to be effective in an unfamiliar set- any location where there is a Columbia Global Columbia’s Core Curriculum knows no boundaries. ting and to build contacts in other countries. Center. We want to provide every student who Thank you to ARC They wanted to challenge themselves, to test wants to do so the opportunity to study, work 7 Around the Quads chairs and members different skills and to expand their personal ca- or do research abroad, and to offer opportuni- Sound savior Carl Haber ’80, ’85 GSAS named MacArthur Fellow. pabilities. They were also thinking about how ties for global experiences early in students’ un- Listen to Carl Haber ’80, their experiences related to their studies and to dergraduate careers. Early global experiences 16 Roar, Lion, Roar ’85 GSAS talk about his their personal, professional and academic lives. are brought back to campus and become part of Olympian Nzingha Prescod ’15 balances fencing and academics. groundbreaking work Our goal as a college is to prepare students to students’ lives for the remainder of their time in be involved and effective global citizens — and the College. Global experiences also influence 44 Columbia Forum: Governing the World Watch Nzingha engaging people, places and ideas throughout PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO students’ interactions with one another, so the Global government has evolved from utopian concept to failed idea. Prescod ’15 fence the world is a big part of that. In part we pro- value of these early global experiences extends pel that engagement right on campus. There are 729 international to the entire student body. In effect, the experiences of individual BY MARK MAZOWER Hear Pete “Dr. Banjo” students in the College who come from 83 different countries; students are leveraged for the benefit of all students. Wernick ’66 perform these students bring the world right here to Columbia College, While I was in Shanghai, one student asked me how I would ALUMNI NEWS college.columbia. so that a variety of perspectives, experiences and opinions are judge whether a Columbia global experience was successful. edu/cct encountered in our classrooms and residence halls. The resulting Well, an international experience in one location must prepare a interactions prepare all of our students for the lives they will have student to succeed in any place in the world. So, to answer her 49 Message from CCAA President Kyra Tirana Barry ’87 after graduation, wherever they go and in whatever field they question I suggested the following measure of success: a student Entrepreneurship is thriving on campus and in the alumni community. choose to pursue. who has participated in one of our Columbia College global But direct, firsthand international experiences, whether aca- experiences is later sent blindfolded to a city somewhere in the 50 Bookshelf demic or co-curricular, are also key for our students. This is why world without preparation or knowing where she is going, and Featured: The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic I often say that “College Walk doesn’t extend from Amsterdam in two weeks has found a place to live, made a friend and gotten Performance by David Epstein ’02, ’04J, ’04 GSAS. to Broadway; it extends around the world.” Alumni often tell me a job. Obviously, I was not being literal in the details here, or pre- that having the chance to work or study overseas opened doors scriptive in the time period, but I phrased the answer this way to 52 Obituaries Like Columbia College of understanding in a way that nothing else could have. Global focus on the key aspect of a global experience: enabling students Alumni on Facebook: 52 experiences, they say, prove that students are self-sufficient, am- to succeed personally and professionally no matter where life Robert S. Greene ’43, ’58 Arts facebook.com/alumnicc bitious risk-takers who will challenge themselves and contribute takes them. Global experiences, along with our broadly diverse 53 John Hollander ’50, ’52 GSAS to the world. They help students develop a clear recognition of and international student body, give our students understanding, 55 Class Notes the breadth of philosophical, political and social structures that life skills, self-sufficiency and competencies to adapt and thrive. Follow @Columbia_CCAA underlie different cultures; provide the ability to interact effec- International experiences, whether in Amman, Kyoto, Moscow, Alumni Profiles on Twitter tively with people of all ages and across all cultures; and increase Santiago, Venice, or right here in Morningside Heights, are key to 68 Pete “Dr. Banjo” Wernick ’66, ’73 GSAS awareness and understanding of their own cultures. They also a Columbia College education and we are committed to expand- 75 Michael Musto ’76 enhance language and communications skills. In this respect, ing and enhancing these opportunities. 88 Lisa Stublić ’06 global education is an extension of the College’s liberal arts cur- Join the Columbia Alumni riculum. Like Contemporary Civilization, Lit Hum, Art Hum Association Network and Music Hum, and of course, the Global Core, an experience 96 Alumni Corner on LinkedIn: alumni. Gregory Viscusi ’85, ’91 SIPA reflects on his time as an American columbia.edu/linkedin living or working abroad develops critical thinking, the ability to journalist abroad. WINTER 2013–14 3 Letters to the Editor WITHIN THE FAMILY BY EDITOR ALEX SACHARE ’71 Wm. Theodore de Bary ’41, Core Curriculum Knows No Borders Volume 41 Number 2 ’53 GSAS Winter 2013–14 I was so pleased to read the article about EDITOR AND PUBLISHER Professor de Bary [Fall 2013], as I enjoyed Alex Sachare ’71 those courses in Asian studies that he and aniel Gordis ’81 had no idea when he was reading Rabbinic Studies at the University of Judaism, the first rabbinical Donald Keene [’42, ’49 GSAS] taught. EXECUTIVE EDITOR Homer’s Iliad and Vergil’s Aeneid in Literature college on the West Coast.