As the University of Washington prepared for the arrival of Dr. Paul Farmer, a global health doctor and the subject of the campus common book, Mountains Beyond Mountains (New York: Random House, 2003), a team of faculty, administrators, and community leaders promoted ideas of global citizenship both on and off the territorial boundaries of the campus.¹

The book, selected for its resonance with issues of general interest to the campus (interdisciplinary approaches, student engagement, a new global health initiative, the power of ideas, the role of entrepreneurship, and the capacity for non-state actors in world politics to shape agendas), had acquired a following more like a social movement than an administrative initiative. Coffee shops adjoining the campus featured copies of the book, and honors students coordinated and invited faculty members to come to evening discussion sessions. As University of Washington Professor Jonathan Mayer commented, “I have seen this book change careers and change lives.”²

Five years following the events of September 11th, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill popularized the assigning of a common reading to a large undergraduate population. However, as their campus discovered, discussing contentious issues without fragmenting the campus community can be difficult. Even popular non-fiction books can draw controversy, yet this can be accommodated by assigning a critical reader to accompany the volume, and encouraging student discussions in peer-led reading groups such as FIGs (Freshman Interest Groups) and TRIGs (Transfer Interest Groups).

As the sustainability movement celebrates the 20th anniversary of Our Common Future, many campuses will bring together scholars, political leaders, and scientists to discuss the implementation of a global agenda, a discussion initiated by the UN Commission on the environment. Gro Harlem Brundtland's leadership and the committee's work led to the institutionalization of the norm of “sustainable development.” Elizabeth Kolbert's Field Notes from a Catastrophe (US: Bloomsbury, 2006) provides vignettes documenting how different sites experience climactic change. Assigning the book as a common reading is a promising way to engage a campus-wide conversation around the issue(s) of global warming and climate change; such an assignment is also appropriate for all institutions interested in engaging in a multidisciplinary discussion on how to manage the commons.

Such projects force universities to reexamine their curricula. How and why do institutions of higher education pursue a global agenda? What are the possibilities for other campus communities? Whether “globalization” or “globalism” is new, or old, increasing or decreasing, it has become a part of the institutional agenda of higher education. The pursuit of global studies, incentives provided for faculty to develop global courses, and the development of technologies suitable for global learning change the way we engage with our students and redefine the boundaries of the classroom.

Students who have participated in global study often chart a course inspired by their learning. University of Washington student Suzanne Jeneby traveled to Kenya on the Mary Gates Endowment Scholarship program and has since founded the East African Center, whose goal is to educate and provide health care to a remote village community. Participants on the University of Washington's Guatemala program, coordinated by an area studies specialist on the faculty, return to the same village year after year to build upon the civic engagement efforts of previous programs. Our global learning has become more than a visit to a site, but a place for active participation. With proper preparation, and a dedicated group of faculty, these efforts are tremendously rewarding for the institution, the individual faculty, and the students.

Although the ways to deliver global education have expanded (including distance learning and e-conference options), many obstacles remain. The perception of costs, credit transfer, and capacity to retain local housing arrangements during a global program are non-tariff barriers to student participation in a vast array of faculty-led, university coordinated study abroad experiences. Shorter visits, with fewer administrative requirements, ease access to global education and permit acquisition of some of the benefits afforded by a lengthier stay. Faculty willingly take on the added burden of coordinating these trips because of the access to familiar sites and the opportunity to have their expenses covered while hosting and introducing a group of students to global learning opportunities. However, among the hundreds of faculty employed at the University of Washington, only a handful undertake the steps required to participate in a study abroad program. And a relatively small percentage of the total student population engages in global study, even though the opportunities have expanded. Only one major in the largest undergraduate college requires global study, even in a so-called age of globalization.

What do students learn on their study abroad experiences? Many institutions have yet to query students about their experience(s). The typical exit survey poses questions about the nature of accommodations, or how well the study abroad office did in coordinating their trip, but fails to incorporate, “What did you learn while studying on this program?” Steps are underway at the University of Washington to develop a greater perspective on how students become engaged and learn while away from campus.

Political science is well-positioned to play a leading role as campus leaders develop global programs, provide incentives for global classrooms, and direct university resources to meet global priorities. One emerging best practice is collaboration between universities. Part of the University of Washington's agreement with a Norwegian university partner includes student and faculty access to a Norwegian Center in Athens. Norwegian students and faculty, in turn, obtain access to the University of Washington's Center in Rome. This kind of reciprocity, more typical of global trade agreements than institutional partnerships, facilitates enhanced capacity for institutions to maintain and expand global education.