Review of “The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the World” (Princeton University Press, 2010)

In The Great Brain Race, Ben Wildavsky, senior fellow at the Kauffman Foundation, guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, and former US News & World Report education editor, delivers a comprehensive overview of the globalization of academia.

Beginning with an introduction of the phenomenon and an outline of his basic project, Wildavsky dives into an examination of international student movement, the expansion of universities into a transnational context, and the development of competitive, world-class universities around the world. Key factors at work in this examination are the sheer number of students studying abroad, the dynamic globalization models of universities such as NYU and regions such as Qatar’s Education City, and the impressive rise of top-notch universities in non-traditional locales ranging from China, to India, South Korea, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.

Wildavsky then turns to the global spread of university ranking systems, from the well-known US News & World Report, to up-and-comers like the Academic Ranking of World Universities, a research-focused publication by Shanghai Jiaotong University, and the arguably UK-centric Times Higher Education. Following the exploration of these metrics, he then assesses the rise of for-profit and online education facilities, which carry the benefits of providing readily accessible, career-oriented learning options, but suffer from questions regarding the quality of their educational services and their positive or negative impacts on the education systems around them.

While The Great Brain Race does an excellent job of examining the various angles at work in academic globalization, and while it provides many interesting facts regarding this ongoing movement, readers may find the book to be lacking as far as a core argument or motivational purpose. The introduction and final chapter of the book take a stab at establishing this sort of motivating theme, where Wildavsky discusses his worries about the obstacles facing academic globalization, and his support of its many benefits, which he stylizes as being part of a positive-sum “free trade in minds”. Despite this attempt, and in large part due to the dynamic nature and incredible breadth of his project, the book falls somewhat short of introducing a unique premise, and may instead be highlighted for its strengths as a broad-based survey and referential resource to better understand the globalization of the academic field.

Opportunities with the Global Centers in New York

Are you interested in getting more involved with international events and activities on campus? The Global Centers is hiring two workstudy-eligible students for administrative and communications support positions.  We are also looking for new bloggers to help develop the content on the blog. For all of the new students coming to campus, this is a great opportunity to learn about international studies opportunities, meet new people, and make Columbia a better place.

Contact Monique Smith at mds2180@gmail.com

Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships

Global Centers Wins NRC/FLAS Grant

Columbia Global Centers is pleased to announce that it has recently been awarded a major grant by the United States Department of Education to establish a National Resource Center for Global Studies at the university. This is a significant step toward strengthening Columbia’s already robust set of international courses, events, and outreach activities. In the next four-year grant cycle, the Office of Global Centers will be implementing an array of programs including a major initiative to bring the World Leadership Forum to local K-16 schools via webcast. Funding will also be directed to the libraries, language teaching, several conferences on global topics, and course development grants.

Next month, as a part of this new program and in coordination with the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Harriman Institute, the Committee on Global Thought and the Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, the Global Centers will launch the International Network to Expand Regional and Collaborative Teaching (INTERACT), which will bring 5 postdoctoral fellows to campus to create innovative courses on global topics for undergraduates.

For the 2010-11 Academic Year, Columbia Global Centers has awarded Foreign Language and Area Studies  (FLAS) Fellowships to 2 undergraduate and 3 graduate students. Please contact mds2180@gmail.com for more information on Summer FLAS opportunities

Why Branch Campuses May Be Unsustainable

In this article published in International Higher Education, Dr. Philip Altbach discusses some of the reasons to think twice about the branch campus model of international expansion. Among his concerns are questions of sustainability, quality control, and long-term impact. Columbia has adopted the Global Centers model in response to the "mushrooming" of these university campuses abroad, and it is a model that addresses many of Altbach's concerns.

Beijing EVENT: Incorporating Public Health Policy into Healthcare Management

China-US Center on Medical Professionalism Seeks Grant Applications

The China-US Center on Medical Professionalism will fund 4-5 research projects by Chinese academics in 2010. This year we are making a commitment to the intersection of administration, business and medicine in China, and are soliciting applications for projects in the following areas of interest: 

1. Conflict of interest in research and clinical practice.
   
2. How medical professionalism can contribute to health policy.
3. The impact of payment models and physician salaries on medical professionalism.
4. Approaches and solutions to medical error: how to study error and foster trust amongst administrators and physicians.
5. The role of professional medical associations in promoting medical professionalism. 
6. The role of hospitals in promoting medical professionalism.

The amounts awarded will range from 65,000RMB to 100,000RMB annually. The project period could be 1 or 2 years. For more information on the Center and application details, visit http://www.imapny.org/home/china_application.  Questions can be sent to china_usmedprof@yahoo.com.

Applications close on June 20^th, 2010.  PLEASE NOTE: grants will only be given to academics based in China.