Tufts Initiative for Leadership and International Perspective (TILIP)
2007 - 2008
Student Participants | Class Sylabus | Symposium | International Student Presence | Student Reactions
Tufts Initiative for Leadership and International Perspective (TILIP)
The Tufts Initiative for Leadership and International Perspective was on hiatus for 2007-08 as the Institute considered a variety of factors in its continuation. While TILIP was initially focused on China, it was developed to encourage significant cross-cultural experiences and learning in a variety of countries. To maintain the IGL’s connections with students and universities in China, and to expand TILIP’s reach, the Institute invited delegations of university students from 11 different countries to participate in EPIIC’s international symposium on “Global Poverty and Inequality” and to consider a broad variety of institutional and student-to-student collaborations. The IGL brought eight students from Peking University.
BRAZIL
Rafael Dal Santo, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
Alexandre Hatem Pereira, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Elida Oliveira, Ponificia Universidade Catolica do Parana
Edson Minarete Pacheco de Mesquita, Universidad Estadual do Ceara
Laura Zacher, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul
CHINA
Cai Danfeng, Peking University
Chen Daizhou (Henry), Peking University
Chen Zhenghao, Peking University
Li Jun, Peking University, Peking University
Shan Ouyang, Peking University
Jason Sun, Peking University
Wang Xuhui (Bill), Peking University
Xu Chuanbi, Peking University
HAITI
Aldolphe Milien, Universite Polyvalente d’Haiti
Adley Petit-Frere, Universite d’Etat d’Haiti
Hudson Rene, Universite d’Etat d’Haiti
INDIA
Bani Gill, University of Delhi
Smritima Lama, University of Delhi
Nitin Das Rai, Ohio Wesleyan University
ISRAEL
Zamir Ben Basat, Haifa University
Haneen Naamnih, Haifa University
Elisheva Salamon, Haifa University
Nadeem Shehadeh, Haifa University
MEXICO
Cynthia Azucena Monroy Segura, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
Pedro Guillermo Perez Jimenez, Instituto Politecnico Nacional
Jorge Escutia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico
NIGERIA
Ndidi Nwaneri, George Washington University
PERU
Hector Josue Collantes Luna, University of the Pacific, Lima
Carolina Huiza Galvez, University of Lima
RWANDA
Susan Nalugwa, National University of Rwanda
Sharon Akayana, National University of Rwanda
Seth Karamage, National University of Rwanda
SINGAPORE
Muhd. Ibnur Rashad Bin Zainal Abidin, National University of Singapore
Fan Yuguang, National University of Singapore
Fu ShengKai Gabriel, National University of Singapore
Gan Zhen Yi, National University of Singapore
Xi He, National University of Singapore
Teresa Ho Lai Fong, National University of Singapore
Anjali Krishnan, National University of Singapore
Liu Litao, National University of Singapore
Ng Nian Long, National University of Singapore
Ng Qiao Ming Rachel, National University of Singapore
Jagabanta Ningthoujam, National University of Singapore
Ruchika, National University of Singapore
Adhiraj Saxena, National University of Singapore
Clement Yong Qiang Tan, National University of Singapore
Soon Kit Tham, National University of Singapore
Professor Peter Pang, Director, University Scholars Programme,
National University of Singapore
SOUTH KOREA
Jeemin Chun, Seoul National University
Ji Hye Hong, Seoul National University
Jin Kang, Seoul National University
Jin Joo Kang, Seoul National University
Christofer Lee, Seoul National University
Kyung Ryul Park, Seoul National University Shin Dongyup, Seoul National University
Heejung Wee, Seoul National University
Professor Sunny Kim, Director, International Relations Office, Col-
lege of Business Administration, Seoul National University
| September 4 | Introduction to the EPIIC year, Part I |
| September 6 | Introduction to the EPIIC year, Part II |
| September 11 |
Poverty and Violence: An Overview Lecturer: Jim Shyne Readings Books • The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier (chapters 1,2 & 8) • Profiting from Peace, Ballentine and Nitzschke (chapters 1, 2 & 12) • Too Poor for Peace?, Brainard & Chollet (chapters 1-3 (skim chapters 4-10) • Pathologies of Power, Paul Farmer, Forward by Amartya Sen (Introduction and chapter 1) • Capitalism's Achilles Heel by Raymond Baker, (Prologue and chapters 1 & 2 (skim chapter 3) • Poverty in World History, Steven M. Beaudoin, all
Handout • "The Political Economy of Armed Conflict", Karen Ballentine and Jake Sherman, Intro & Part I (pp. 1-70) |
| September 13 |
Rosh Hashanah – No Class Readings Books • Capitalism's Achilles Heel by Raymond Baker, all
• Poor People, William T. Vollman, all • The Bottom Billion, Paul Collier, all |
| September 18 |
Lecturer: Fred Berger Readings Handouts • “Divergence, Big Time”, Lant Pritchett, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1997, pp 3-17) • “The World Distribution of Income: Falling Poverty and Convergence, Period”, Xavier Sala-i-Martin, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. CXXI May 2006 Issue 2, pp 351-397 • “The Microfinance Promise”, Jonathan Morduch, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 37 No 4 (Dec 1999) pp 1569-1614 • “Beyonf Microfinance: Getting Capital to Small and Medium Enterprises to Fuel Faster Development”, David De Ferranti and Anthony J. Ody, The Brookings Institution Policy Brief #159, March 2007 • “The Missing Parts of Microfinance: Services for Consumption and Insurance”, Timothy H Nourse, SAIS Review vol. XXI No. 1 (Winter Spring 2001) pp 61-70 • “Dead Capital and the Poor”, Hernando De Soto, SAIS Review, vol XXI no 1 (Winter-Spring 2001) pp13 – 44 • “Do Property Titles Increase Credit Access Among the Urban Poor? Evidence from a Nationwide Titling Program”, Erica Field and Maximo Torero, March 2006 (working paper 28 pp) • NYTimes China and Africa Series (there are three of them), Howard French and Lydia Polgreen (“China, Filling a Void, Drills for Riches in Chad.” The New York Times. August 13, 2007; “Entrepreneurs From China Flourish in Africa.” The New York Times. August 18, 2007; “China’s Trade in Africa Carries a Price Tag.” The New York Times. August 21, 2007) • “Odious Debt Wears Two Faces: Systematic Illegitimacy, Problems and Opportunities in Traditional Odious Debt Conceptions in Globalized Economic Regimes”, Larry Cata Backer, Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University. February, 2007 • “Odious Debt: When Dictators Borrow, Who Repays the Loan.”Michael Kremer and Seema Jayachandran. The Brookings Review. Vol. 21, No. 2. Pgs. 32-35 • “Aid, Policy and Growth in Post-Conflict Societies”, Paul Collier and Anke Hoeffler, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 2902, 2002
• The draft World Bank Group Strategic Planning Exercise |
| September 20 |
MicroFinance Lecturer: Rachel Glennister of the Poverty Action Lab/Ajaita Shah/Rachel Bergenfield
Handouts • Development Economics: Micro Foundations and Policy Analysis, Julie Schaffner (Introduction; Chapter 2: Well-being and Living Standards; Chapter 4: Poverty, Inequality and Vulnerability; Chapter 10: Rigorous and Practical Policy Analysis) |
| September 25 | First Exam (Tisch 304) |
| September 27 |
Overview of Econometrics and Development Theories, Terms Lecturers: Matt MacGregor and Jim Shyne No Assigned Readings |
|
September 28 - 30 |
Outward Bound Weekend Immersion Guest Lecturer: Jack Blum Readings Books • Capitalism’s Achilles Heel, Raymond Baker, all • Global Outlaws: Crime, Money and Power in the Contemporary World, Carolyn Nordstrom, all Handouts • “Fighting Poverty and Corruption: Integrating the Fight Against Corruption into the PRS Process – Analysis and Recommendations for Development Cooperation”, Walter Eberlei et al. • “Corruption and Poverty: A Review of Recent Literature” (Final Report), Eric Chetwynd et al. • The Education of Henry Adams, Henry Adams, chapters 1 and 16-25 |
| October 2 |
Econometrics Continued Lecturer: Jim Shyne No Assigned Readings |
| October 4 |
Corporate Social Responsibility/Children, Education and Poverty Guest Speakers: Marcy Murningham/Don Wertlieb Handouts • “The Meaning of Social Entrepreneurship,” original draft, J. Gregory Dees, 31 October 1998; reformatted and revised, 30 May 2001 • “The Social Enterprise Spectrum: Philanthropy to Commerce,” J. Gregory Dees, Harvard Business School Publishing, 9-396-343, 1996 • “Philanthropy and Enterprise: Harnessing the Power of Business and Entrepreneurship for Social Change,” J. Gregory Dees, a paper presented to the Aspen Institute “Social Enterprise and Private Enterprise,” 2 August 2007 • “Creating Social Capital Markets for Fourth Sector Organizations: Opportunities and Challenges,” Meeting Summary of the Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program and the Fourth Sector Network, in collaboration with the Calvert Social Investment Foundation and The Case Foundation, New York, 14 June 2007 • “The Responsibilities of Corporations and Their Owners,” John Simon, Charles Powers, and Jon Gunneman, The Ethical Investor (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1972), pp. 15-64 • "Corporations and Social Responsibility: An Historical Perspective", Marcy Murninghan, The Social Investment Almanac 1992, pp. 86-94 • A Corporate Democracy and the Legacy of the South African Divestment Movement, Robert K. Massie, Jr., in Stackhouse, et al., On Moral Business: Classical and Contemporary Resources for Ethics in Economic Life (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1995), pp. 577-583 • FT REPORT – “Responsible Business: Now firmly in the mainstream,” John Willman, Financial Times, 2 July 2007 • FT REPORT – “Responsible Business: The lessons we have learnt,” Alison Maitland, Financial Times, 3 July 2007 • “100 Best Corporate Citizens 2007,” and “Methodology,” compiled by KLD Research & Analytics and published by CRO Magazine, Jan / Feb 2007 • “Building the Institutional Infrastructure for Corporate Social Responsibility,” Sandra Waddock, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Working Paper No. 32, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, December 2006 • “Citizen’s Guide to Supercapitalism,” from Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life, Robert Reich, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, September 2007), pp. 209-225 • “Laws and Charters,” in The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It, Paul Collier, (New York: Oxford University Press, April 2007) pp. 134-156 • “Leveraging the Development Impact of Business in the Fight Against Global Poverty,” Jane Nelson, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Working Paper No. 22, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, April 2006 • “Business and Human Rights: The Evolving International Agenda,” John Ruggie, Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative Working Paper No. 38, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, June 2007 • “A New Kind of Voter Education Project: Responsible Equity Ownership & the Public Interest,” Marcy Murninghan, Value Vol. 1, No.1 (Jan/Feb 2006), pp. 60-62 • “Investors Filing Record Number of Social and Environmental Shareholder Resolutions in 2007,” press release from the Social Investment Forum, 30 May 2007 http://www.socialinvest.org/ • “NYCERS: Walkin’ the Activist Walk,” Hugh Wheelan, Responsible Investor, September 2007 http://www.responsible- • Principles for Responsible Investment (Geneva: United Nations Environmental Programme Finance Initiative, 2007) http://www.unpri.org/files/ • “Signatories to the Principles for Responsible Investment,” UNEP FI, August 2007 http://www.unpri.org/ • “Sudan Divestment Initiative Grows,” L. Reed Walton, a report from Institutional Shareholder Services, 6 August 2007 http://blog.issproxy.com/2007/
• Global Framework for Climate Risk Disclosure: A statement of investor expectations for comprehensive corporate disclosure, CERES et al., a report of the Global Climate Risk Initiative, October 2006 • “Executive Summary: College Sustainability Report Card 2007,” a report of the Sustainable Endowments Institute (Cambridge, MA: 2007) • “Tufts University” from College Sustainability Report Card 2007 • A Call for Action: Consensus Principles and Recommendations from the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, USCAP, January, 2007 (www.us-cap.org) • “Scrubbing the Sky: Climate Change and the Productive Center,” Marcy Murningham, Special Issue on Climate, Water & Oil, New England Journal of Public Policy 21 (July 2007), pp. 65-86 Websites • http://www.4thworldmovement. • http://www.futureofchildren.
org/usr_doc/PovertySummary.pdf • |
| October 9 |
No Class – Monday’s Schedule Reading
Handout • Excerpt from Superclass manuscript, David Rothkopf |
| October 11 |
Guest Lecturer: Mort Rosenblum Reading
Book • Escaping Plato’s Cave, Mort Rosenblum |
| October 12 |
First Paper Due by 3pm, emailed to Heather |
February 21 | February 22 | February 23 | February 24
Wednesday, February 20
11:00am
Microfinance and the Challenge of Eradicating Poverty
Speaker:
Vikram Akula
CEO and Founder, SKS Microfinance, India; Named to TIME Magazine’s Top 100 List of Most Influential People; Recipient, Echoing Green Public Service Entrepreneur Fellowship; Former Management Consultant, McKinsey and Company; Fulbright Scholar in India; Former Community Organizer, Deccan Development Society in India
Introduction and Presentation of Alumni Award
Allison Schuster
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
7:00pm
Your Future in an "Everyone a Changemaker" World
Speaker:
Bill Drayton
CEO and Founder, Ashoka; Former Management Consultant, McKinsey and Company; Former Assistant Administrator at the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency; Founder, Save EPA; Founder, Environmental Safety; Board Chair, Get America Working!; Board Chair, Youth Venture; MacArthur Fellow; Selected one of America’s Best Leaders, US News & World Report
Discussant
David O. Dapice
Associate Professor of Economics, Tufts University
Introduction and Presentation of Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award
Rachel Brown
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
8:00pm
Megacitieis: Global Slums and the Urbanization of Poverty
Panelists:
Jessica Bidgood, Hector Josue Collantes Luna, and Sarah Freeman
EPIIC 2007-08 EPIIC Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University; Student, University of the Pacific, Lima; and
Cofounder of Engineers without Borders, Institute for Global Leadership and School of Engineering, Tufts University
Folarin Gbadebo-Smith
Chairman, Ikoyi/Obalende Local Government Council, Lagos, Nigeria; Mason Fellow, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard
University; Honorary Consul, Royal Kingdom of Thailand in Nigeria
Piyali Kundu and Aly Pittman
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University
Robert Neuwirth
Author, Shadow Cities, A Billion Squatters: A New Urban World; Journalist, The Nation, The Village Voice, Newsday, The New York Times, Metropolis and City Limits; Former Community Organizer
Janice Perlman
Founder and President, Mega-Cities Project; Author, Marginality from Myth to Reality: Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, 1969-2005 and The Myth of Marginality: Urban Politics and Poverty in Rio de Janeiro; Coordinator, President Carter’s Neighborhood Task Force on National Urban Policy; Former Executive Director, Strategic Planning, New York City Partnership
Cynthia Smith
Exhibit Curator, “Design for the Other 90%”; Manager, Travel Exhibitions, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; Juror, UNESCO Shelter Me Competition
Introduction of Cynthia Smith and Design for the Other 90%
Tim Fitzsimons
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
Moderator
Elizabeth Gross
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
12:00pm
Scarcity and Sustainability: Climate Change and the World's Poor
Panelists:
Frank Ackerman
Director, Research and Policy Program, Global Development and the Environment Institute, Tufts University; Cofounder and Editor, Dollars & Sense; Coeditor, The Political Economy of Inequality
Adil Najam
Director, Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future, Boston University; Author, Southern Visions on Trade and Sustainable Development and Global Environmental Governance; Coordinating Lead Author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Gwyn Prins
Director, Mackinder Centre for the Study of Long Wave Events, London School of Economics; Former Senior Research Fellow, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London; Senior Fellow, Office of the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General of NATO; Consultant on Security, Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research of the British Meteorological Office
Andrew C. Revkin
Environmental Reporter, The New York Times; Former Senior Editor, Discover
Introduction and Presentation of Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award
Jessica Bidgood
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
Moderator
Daniel Enking
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
2:00pm
The Resource Trap: Conflict, Corruption, and Failing States
Panelists:
Jack Blum
Counsel, Baker Hostetler; Former Special Counsel, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (including the investigation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI))
David Dapice
Associate Professor of Economics, Tufts University; Economist, Vietnam Program, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business &
Government, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Sanjoy Hazarika
Managing Trustee, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, India; Member, India’s National Security Advisory Board and the National Council of the Indian Council of Social Science Research; Author, Strangers of the Mist: Tales of War and Peace from India’s North East
Francisco Rodriguez
Former Chief Economist, Venezuelan National Assembly; Assistant Professor of Economics and Latin American Studies, Wesleyan University; Coauthor, “Anarchy, State, and Dystopia: Venezuelan Economic Institutions before the Advent of Oil” and “Growth Collapses”
Moderators
Gabriel Frumkin and Austin Siadak
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
6:30pm
Welcome and Introductions
Vincent Manno
Associate Provost, Tufts University
Sherman Teichman
Director, Institute for Global Leadership
Julia Silberman
EPIIC 2007-08 EPIIC Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership
Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award Presentations
Action Against Hunger
Award being accepted by Nan Dale, Executive Director, Action Against Hunger-USA
Introduction and Presentation of Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award
Helaina Stein
EPIIC 2007-08 EPIIC Colloquium
ACCION International
Award being accepted by Alavaro Rodriguez Arregui, Chairman, ACCION International
Introduction and Presentation of Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award
Jeff Goldberg
EPIIC 2007-08 EPIIC Colloquium
more information about the Mayer winners on our Dr. Jean Mayer page
Introduction of EMPOWER
Sherman Teichman, Director, Institute for Global Leadership
Announcement of the Nelson Mandela/Mac Maharaj Scholarship
7:10pm
Visual Introduction to Poverty and Inequality
Introduction
Sherman Teichman, Director, Institute for Global Leadership
Images from the Field IV, photographs from the EXPOSURE exhibition in the Slater Concourse Gallery of Aidekman Arts Center
view the gallery
Introduction
Tim Fitzsimons
EPIIC 2007-08 EPIIC Colloquium
Segments from Trendalyzer Software, developed by Hans Rolsling, Professor of International Health at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden and Director of the Gapminder Foundation
Introduction
Sonia Tan
EPIIC 2007-08 EPIIC Colloquium
7:30pm
Alleviating Poverty: Is Aid the Answer?
J. Brian Atwood
Dean, Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Former Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development
Introduction and Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award Presentation
Shana Hurley, EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University
Steve Berkman
Former Lead Investigator, Anti-Corruption and Fraud Investigation Unit, World Bank; Author, The World Bank and the Gods of
Lending (forthcoming)
John Hammock
Alexander N. McFarlane Associate Professor of Public Policy, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Associate Professor of International Humanitarian Aid, The Fletcher School, Tufts University; Founder, Feinstein International Famine Center; North American Director, Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative; Former Director, OXFAM America and OXFAM International
Courtney Morrissey
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University
Gwyn Prins
Director, Mackinder Centre for the Study of Long Wave Events, London School of Economics; Former Senior Research Fellow, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London; Visiting Senior Fellow, Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, Ministry of Defence, United Kingdom; Author, The Heart of War: On Power, Conflict and Obligation in the 21st Century
Ernest Rwamucyo
Policy Advisor on Governance in UNDP’s Bureau for Development Policy; Former Director-General, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Rwanda
Moderators: JJ Emru and Danny Negless
9:30am
Bottom-up Development: MIcrofinance and Entrepreneurship
Geoff Chalmers
Economic Growth and Environment Team Leader, USAID/Mexico; Tufts’94, EPIIC’94
David Dapice
Associate Professor of Economics, Tufts University; Economist, Vietnam Program, Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Jon Peters
Social Entrepreneur; Founder, Elevator Foundation
Iqbal Quadir
Founder, GrameenPhone, Bangladesh; Founder and Executive Director, Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Anushka Ratnayake
Fellows Program Manager, Kiva
Álvaro Rodríguez Arregui
Chairman, ACCIÓN International; Founder and CEO, Ignia, Mexico; Cofounder, Banco Azteca
Moderator Adam White
11:30am
Investing in Human Potential: Health, Education, and the Millenium Development Goals
The Inequality in Israel: The case of Arab and Jewish Isrealis
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University
Hana Agha
Jessica Herrmann
Laura Kaplan
RESPE Members, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University
Sabina Carlson
Patricia Eloizin
Helaina Stein
Panelists
Anne Goldfeld
Associate Professor, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard School of Public Health; Senior Investigator, CBR Institute for Biomedical Research; Cofounder, Cambodian Health Committee
Hongxia Liu
Representative and Director, Asia Pacific, International Development Law Organization (IDLO); Founder and Former Director,ABA/UNDP International Legal Resource Center
Richard Mollica
Director, Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
José Vicente Tavares dos Santos
Professor of Sociology, Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; Author, Globalization and Critical Sociology of Latin America
Neil Swidey
Staff Writer, Boston Globe Magazine, Introduction to The Assist: Hoops, Hope and the Game of their Lives
Sifa Nsengimana
Executive Director, ASYA, Introduction to Agahozo Shalom Youth Village
Moderator
Elizabeth Herman
2:30pm
The Environment in an Unequal World
Sunita Narain
Director, Centre for Science and Environment, Delhi, India; Director, Society for Environmental Communications; Publisher, Down To Earth; Coauthor, Global Warming in an Unequal World: A Case of Environmental Colonialism and Towards a Green World: Should Environmental Management Be Built on Legal Conventions or Human Rights?; Coeditor, Green Politics: Global Environmental Negotiations and Dying Wisdom: Rise, Fall and Potential of India’s Water Harvesting Systems
Introduction and Presentation of Dr. Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award
3:15pm
America's Poor: Is there a Domestic Poverty Trap?
David Cartagena
Senior Streetworker, Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence; Former Member, Almighty Latin Kings
Samuel du Pont
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium and EPIIC 2006-07 Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University
Teny Oded Gross
Executive Director, Institute for the Study and Practice of Nonviolence; Former Program Coordinator, Youth Focused Community Initiative, Ella J. Baker House; Former Participant, National Ten-Point Coalition; Former Senior Streetworker, City of Boston
Lawrence Mead
Professor of Politics, New York University; Author, Beyond Entitlement: The Social Obligations of Citizenship, The New Politics of Poverty: The Nonworking Poor in America, and Government Matters
Donald Wertlieb
Director, Tufts University Center for Children and Professor and Former Chairman, Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University
Announcement of the Gerald R. Gill Oral History Research Prize
Heather Barry
Associate Director, Institute for Global Leadership
Moderator
Erin Baldassari
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
5:15pm | Small-Group Discussions
8:00pm
Illicit Trade and the Informal Economy: Abuse of the Poor
Panelists:
Raymond Baker
Author, Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How To Renew the Free-Market System and “How Dirty Money Binds the Poor”; Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy; Guest Scholar, Brookings Institution
James S. Henry
Author, Blood Bankers and The Pirate Economy (forthcoming); Founder, SubmergingMarkets; Former Chief Economist, McKinsey & Company
Sasha Lezhnev
Policy Adviser, Global Witness; Author, Crafting Peace: Strategies To Deal with Warlords in Collapsing States
Discussant
Hanibal Goitom
Foreign Law Specialist, Sub Saharan Africa, Law Library of Congress
Moderator
Tenley Ghan
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
5:15pm
Allies for Humanity: Civil-Military Relations for the 21st Century
Speakers:
Gregg Nakano
INSPIRE Fellow and Adviser to ALLIES, Institute for Global Leadership; Former USAID Military Liaison Officer, Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance; Former Head, USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), Banda Aceh; Former Marine Platoon Infantry Commander, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Shield
Maj. John Williams
Associate Chair, Political Science Department, U.S. Naval Academy; Former Foreign Area Officer, with a focus on the Balkans; numerous operational deployments including Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the 2006 evacuation of American citizens from S. Lebanon, Iraq
1:00pm
Corporate Social Responsibility: Principles, Priorities and Profits
Introduction and Presentation of Inaugural Boryana Damyanova Award for Corporate Social Responsibility
Lisa Senecal
EPIIC 2003-04 Colloquium
Rachel Wenger
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
Panelists:
Jeffrey Ballinger
Director, Press for Change
Hannah Flamm
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium, Institute for Global Leadership, Tufts University
Robert Massie
Former Executive Director, Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES); Author, Loosing the Bonds: The United States and South Africa in the Apartheid Years
Marcy Murninghan
IGL INSPIRE Fellow; Founder and President, The Lighthouse Investment Group; Former President, Social Investment Services Division, Mitchell Investment Management Company, Inc.; Author, Power & Principles: Leaders in Media and Finance Reflect on the Ethical Framework of Their Work
J. Peter Neilans
Chief Operating Officer, Pacific Rim Mining Corp.; Former Mine Manager, Porgera, New Guinea and Big Bell, Australia
Andrew Savitz
Author, The Triple Bottom Line: How the Best Run Companies are Achieving Economic, Social and Environmental Success - and How You Can Too; Senior Consultant, Sustainable Business Strategies
Moderator
Lauren Citrome
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
3:00pm
Governance, Wealth, Power and Accountability
Panelists:
José Maria Argueta
Former National Security Adviser, Guatemala
Raymond Baker
Author, Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How To Renew the Free-Market System
Jack Blum
Counsel, Baker Hostetler; Former Special Counsel, U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee (including the investigation of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI))
Rachel Brown, David Mok, Julia Silberman, Kelsi Stine
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium members
John Christensen
International Director, Tax Justice Network
Moderator
Hannah Flamm
EPIIC 2007-08 Colloquium
International Students at the 2008 EPIIC Symposium
The international student attendance, part of the IGL’s CGI commitment, at the EPIIC symposium had a remarkable impact on the proceedings, on the EPIIC students, and on the international students. Fifty-four students from 11 countries and 15 international universities participated in the symposium: 15 from the Honors Program at the National University of Singapore; eight from Seoul National University, South Korea; seven from Peking University, China; five from national universities in Brazil; four from the University of Haifa, Israel; three from the National University of Rwanda; three from universities in Mexico; three from universities in Haiti; three from India; two from universities in Peru; and one from Nigeria.
The international students were hosted by the EPIIC students and the schedule extended beyond the symposium to include a welcome and informal breakfast meeting where the Institute, EPIIC and EMPOWER were introduced to them. They also had a private meeting with Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka; an introduction to Resilience with Professor Astier Almedom, IGL Fellow and Professor of Practice at The Fletcher School; a panel on micro-commerce led by Internet Bar Founder Jeff Aresty and Elevator Foundation Founder Jon Peters; and a scavenger hunt in Boston led by the EPIIC students.
Outcomes from the participation of the international students in the EPIIC symposium include: the top-ranked physics student graduating from Peking University deferring beginning his graduate work at MIT to spend a year researching the potential for social entrepreneurship to work in China; one of the IGL students who conducted research on access to clean water in Peru taking a semester off to travel and work in Peru, collaborating with the Peruvian student who hosted him in the winter and came to the EPIIC symposium; linking Peruvian students with Brazilian students working on youth violence in South America, and then linking them to The Project on Justice in Times of Transition’s ongoing project on youth violence in Central America; one of the students from the University of Delhi participating in the IGL’s EXPOSURE (program in photojournalism and human rights) workshop in Uganda; one of the students from the National University of Singapore delegation participating in EXPOSURE’s workshop in Cambodia; and the introduction of the Rwandan students to the organizers and purpose of the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda.
When the EPIIC students in the Global Poverty and Inequality colloquium went out to conduct their research over the winter intersession in China, Haiti, Israel, Peru, they were hosted by and they collaborated with the students who then came to the EPIIC symposium.
Shan Ouyang, Peking University, China
I didn’t expect a seven-day trip would create such a storm in my mind.
The storm began on the flight to America. It was the first time in the past twenty-one years that I had got a chance to go outside China, where I was born, brought up and educated, and to see the outside world with my own eyes…
The lectures in the symposium were thought provoking. I might not be able to understand them all, but at least they provide me with new perspectives to look at such issues. I was shocked by how much concern people around the world have on poverty.
I was shocked by the international students, who have a good knowledge of the current situation and the ongoing problems in their own countries, while I remained silent most of the time faced with the complexity of China, which I had not probed into enough.
I was also shocked by the Tufts students, who showed us the impressive data, photos, insights and suggestions in their presentations of research reports. To be honest, before this event, I had a stereotype of American students as a group of privileged who have the best resources in the world to realize their wild dreams with much ease. But they told me in action: “No.” They dream their dreams with careful plans, strong commitment and full dedication. Without these, abundant resources alone won’t make success.
Entrepreneurship is no longer a vague concept to me as I see with my own eyes in the EPIIC class passion and determination.
Although China still has much to do as before to build up real NGOs, to provide an environment for effective microfinance projects, etc, I just don’t feel hopeless anymore. That, perhaps, is my most valuable take-away from the symposium.
Student Reactions
Below are a few excerpts from the symposium reactions the Tufts and international students wrote.
Haneen Naamnih, Law Student, University of Haifa, Israel
The 2008 EPIIC International Symposium was a first and unique opportunity for me and for many others to “think beyond boundaries” and take seriously – and not as a faraway dream or idea - the concept of “acting behind borders”.
…For me, as a person who lives in a very problematic, divided and conflicted country, and for other students who had come from the same situation, the EPIIC program is not only another program. It is an essential step towards a deeper understanding of the “reality” we are living in, and a critical point of view about things.
…As part of our daily day routine and hardships, most of our complicated life features become internalized deeply as “normal”. This normalization process is very dangerous for our own specific society and for the whole world in general. The EPIIC program gave us as people who had became unconsciously part of this normalization process in their society, an opportunity to step out of ourselves…I will always remember what Mr. Drayton said about realizing the motivation to change things in ourselves and in our kids, friends, siblings and our society in general…When I see the EPIIC students’ energy, motivation, commitment, enthusiasm about International and national social and political issues, I start wondering: why not in my own society? …I must say also, that meeting the International delegations had a great impact on me. I could now see my self as a part of a whole International net. For me now, places like Rwanda or India or China are not foreign faraway places anymore…It also gave me hope. That someday all of this will be over.
Seth Karamage, Senior, National University of Rwanda, Rwanda
The day I found that I have been invited to attend the symposium on “Global Poverty and Inequality” from the United States of America, it sounded to me as a solution to the problems I have been struggling with for many years.
…Interaction with IGL Students -- Oh my God! I have never met in my life such a brilliant environment of students; though young in age, but mentally mature enough to be leaders.
…Interaction with International Students -- This was a great opportunity for my experience, in that I was able to have more information on the reality on different issues from different countries. I now have friends and representatives from 11 countries of which I feel is a stout force to combat any injustice that would be exercised from any of these countries. We will always bravely communicate and sort down matters for sustainable resolutions through information sharing.
…Back Home -- Some few days after I got back home from the symposium, I found my self very aggressive on poverty, inequality and conflict issues than before. For instance, on Monday 10th March 2008 I argued new pass-out police cadet officers and some other army officers to widen the bridge between security organs and civilians. That was the influence of Allies for Humanity.
I have been interacting with different kinds of youth; educated, semi-educated and uneducated and asked them to commit themselves on social entrepreneurship by showing them important relevant examples from the books we got from the symposium and applying the knowledge I attained from the panels and presentations as well.
…Let me once again express my sincere gratitude to Sherman, Heather, IGL staff and students in particular and Tufts University in general for making this symposium a reality. Once you feel you wish to extend more programs to Africa, I donate ten hectares of land to IGL family. This piece of land is deducted from my personal land property and I believe if fully utilized Rwandans would be the first beneficiaries as well as the African continent at large.
Leah Staub-Delong, Senior, Tufts University
The presence of the international students helped me to broaden my thinking during the event, their questions and comments offering new perspectives on each issue we addressed.
Through individual conversations, I saw a sampling of how exceptional many of these students were: Bill from China with a passion for energy management issues and a plan to shape China’s future, Elida from Brazil whose passion for youth shined in her questions to panelists and during after-panel conversations in my kitchen, and Seth from Rwanda, who during our first panel on Wednesday leaned to me and said something like, “this is all making me want to study development, to alleviate poverty.”
The exchanges we had were inspiring and energizing for me, and I sensed similar impressions from the visiting students. I truly felt that by the end of the symposium we had taken the first steps towards creating a global community with our visiting students, and I felt honored to be a part of this community.
Haiti Delegation
So, we, Hudson Rene, Aldophe Milien and Adley Petit-Frere, members of Haiti delegation (RESPE Haiti, Balan), are very proud of producing a thought about that important program which is unforgettable for us.
For a country like ours, the topic chosen was much appropriate and up-dated, because we are one of the poorest countries all over the world. Such a topic should have been discussed inside our University community, but unfortunately we had never had this opportunity. However, we have been thirsty about it. That’s why we were very satisfied to take part in that symposium.
As Haitian students, we had had before knowledge of poverty and inequality and we are conscious of their damages, and we face them every single day. But lack of strategies and finance, we were not able enough to fight them.
However, thanks to our participation at that interesting symposium, about what we have seen, heard and learned, we are right now very able to fight against poverty and inequality in the world especially in Haiti.
…When we were producing this reflection, we could not help remembering Doctor Bill Drayton. He told us “Everyone must be a changemaker world” This subject gave us challenge just to participate in a new world construction. “Your future in an everyone a changemaker world. Thank you Bill, Thank you Dr. Dapice. Your advice will be kept in our minds forever.
We are now true changemakers world.
Smritima Lama, Graduate Student, University of Delhi
My experience at the symposium was both exhilarating as well as enriching. It imbibed in me the value of being a global citizen and its importance.
…The symposium exposed me to a lot many things in terms of microfinance, climate change and how this has an effect on the poor, how corruption leads to stagnation in countries thereby trapping the poor, etc.
I also came to know about America’s poor and it was interesting to hear Mr. Lom and Mr. Cartagena who gave us an account of their first-hand experience.
Although I’m from India I did not know about Mr.Akula’s SKS foundation and therefore it was great to hear him and see all the positive changes that he has made in my country.
Before the symposium I had thought that due to corruption and red-tapeism nothing much could be done in India, but now I have seen great examples and would therefore like to do something worthwhile for the people of my country especially the under-privileged.
Bani Gill, Senior, University of Delhi, India
One of the most important reasons why this experience is so memorable is the fact that I got to interact with students from all across the globe. I was shocked by how well informed everyone was - the Tufts students, the international delegates - and am proud to be part of EPIIC 2008.
Elisheva’s comment at the end - of viewing Haneen and her as a symbol of peace - has really stuck with me. People all over the world are tired of conflict, of violence, of turmoil, of man-made differences. People all over the world just want to ‘be’…I came to EPIIC as a final year student, about to graduate in May, who has no idea of where life will take her next. When I look around me, I feel a sense of despair because all anyone wants to do these days is an MBA and earn pots of money. I was beginning to doubt myself, and what I want to do.
But coming to EPIIC, meeting with eminent panelists, interacting with international delegates and working on sound solutions has reaffirmed my faith in what I want to do. I still don’t have everything planned out yet, but I know I want to work on conflict…So, I might have come to EPIIC a disillusioned cynic, but I left as an optimist with fresh belief in hope, solutions and ‘changing the world’.
Xu Chuanbi, Peking University, China
I asked myself and was also asked this question from time to time: what did I bring back from the symposium, if anything that is fresh and meaningful?
First and most important, my answer would be it is a concept and belief: people COULD DO things about the issue of poverty and inequality, just like many of the panel speakers!
…If I was doubtful about the power of individuals in front of the extraordinarily hard and long-lasting battle before attending the symposium, the symposium makes me realize how powerful people could be in reality if they really want to. This recognition would be the departure of all the other thoughts and real actions.
…After EPIIC, I know that there are many ways that I could make a difference to our world. I could volunteer in NGOs, call for attention from the society, think of innovative entrepreneurial ideas, or just as simply talk to people and help them to realize that they have the power and responsibility to do something to make it a better world.
To take an action is not that hard once we have the belief that we could make a contribution.
Laura Kaplan, Sophomore, Tufts University
…Finally, I would say that hosting international students was the highlight of the symposium for me.
I think I had the best job on the Wednesday before the symposium began when I handed out nametags to everyone and when I brought a group into Boston for the scavenger hunt on Thursday afternoon because I was able to have a conversation with just about every student.
I have never met anyone from Haiti or Rwanda, nor had I ever thought that I would, and it was just so great being able to interact with so many different types of people. I became particularly close with Laura from Brazil, whom I hosted, and we had the greatest discussions about police-community relations in her country and what she is trying to do to improve them. Since I am interested in governance issues in Latin America, we were able to really have a deep conversation. I hope to visit her when I am in Chile this summer.
Laura is also very interested in conflict resolution, and she certainly was able to witness conflict first hand when I took her to coffee with Elisheva and Haneen the night that they came and were arguing over Israeli domestic issues.
I also became very close with Hector and also hope to visit him in Peru this summer. Last weekend I showed him around New York and we spoke in Spanish all day to each other. I am amazed at his commitment to improve the conditions in his country and his determination to attend graduate school in the states and eventually return back to his country to become part of the government and effect change.
Ndidi Nwaneri, Graduate Student from Nigeria, George Washington University
…INSPIRATION -- The event was first and foremost an inspiration to me. It showed me that 'IT' is possible. Substitute whatever positive thing you want to accomplish in life as the 'IT'. The hard work, tenacity and effort to articulate what the team believed was truly inspiring. How did it all come together? Somebody believed and acted. EPIIC did not wait for the right situation and circumstances, and did not wait for students from 50 countries to confirm attendance. You just did the good you could with what you had at the time. And in the courage of action, in spite of seemingly bad odds, or discouraging circumstances, you were able to reach across the world in ways you might not be able to fully comprehend.
UNDERSTANDING -- As a frustrated Nigerian, African woman, it was encouraging to see proof that 'regular' people around the world are concerned (with varying levels of understanding) with the issues and challenges of Africa. Knowing that we are not alone is very encouraging to me. I plan on being an agent of change in Nigeria. My focus will be the lower 10% of my country. The people you only hear of as statistics. Knowing that there is a world out there of truly concerned individuals - not politicians - was truly encouraging. Also, the symposium provided me with numerous ideas and resources that I will most definitely tap into.
OUR SHARED HUMANITY -- We are all from one world and if we get past the physical and mental barriers, we are all so similar. The meeting had such a wide array of 'humanity' and we were all able to connect. The connection was not just on the basis of the program but we all – I am sure for the first time for most of us – had a chance to see the ordinary side of the rest of the world. Places we had only read about and in some cases only heard in the nightly news – mostly negative - reports about.
Sharon Akanyan, National University of Rwanda, Rwanda
The symposium was not only an educational platform but an event to remember!
…The educational part of it was that we as the international students whom 90% come from the world’s poorest countries managed to look at poverty in a more vast way. If we all remember so well David Cartagena, former street boy who talked to us about how life wasn’t any fair to him because there was no food at home, his single mum was a drug addict and was not working and because of all this, he also became a drug addict and a thief such that he ended up in prison!
Anyway, who knew poverty also existed in the USA! There is poverty all over and that is why it is a global concern.
However, poverty in the world does differ, that is why we will find 11 million children under the age of 5 die each year of malnutrition and curable diseases; The symposium to me therefore was a step ahead in the right direction of trying to alleviate poverty from the roots!
How? The IGL/EPIIC authorities that managed to organize this gathering and sharing of ideas, the TUFTS students that take the initiative to join this program and consider Global poverty as their concern! I was very surprised at how much most of the IGL students enjoyed their research in the developing world and how the others can’t wait to do theirs there! At the symposium, I/we got to know that poverty and ways to its eradication can not be just gotten from books or lecturers or the media but one should be on the ground, live in the condition and later come up with innovative ideas or initiatives to eradicate it.
Aly Pittman, Sophomore, Tufts University
…I believe that their presence added a unique and compelling dimension to the weekend.
While the EPIIC class is far from in agreement on the complexities of the global poverty and inequality, we have come from the same base of knowledge and obviously had thus developed similar views and biases on some of the aspects of the topic.
It was refreshing to have some completely fresh, yet well developed perspectives on these topics, and to have our collective assumptions challenged.
For instance, during my research with IGL I did a lot of background research on slum rehabilitation and the complexities of providing for the urban poor in India. During the panel on megacities, I was fascinated by how one speaker’s impressions of the urban poverty in Brazil mirrored and yet contrasted with India’s urban poverty.
I came out of that panel energized and a true believer in that particular speakers slum rehabilitation strategy. However the next day I had a conversation with a delegate from Brazil about her opinions of slum rehabilitation strategies in Brazilian megacities. I was forced to reconsider my complete agreement with a speaker that only the day before I had idolized.
This and many other conversations are examples of how as an international body of young thinkers we were able to push each other’s opinions and assumptions to a higher level of complexity then any single delegation could have possibly achieved alone.
David Axelrod, Senior, Tufts University
…Seth Karamage began to describe his studies in Rwanda and his interest in alleviating the poverty and inequality there. As he spoke, his gaze steadily hardened, growing glossy and far-off. His rising voice, dripping with passion, reverberated off of the walls of the lecture hall as he commented on the hardship facing his country. We all must educate ourselves against complacency, he resolutely declared, and forums like EPIIC are instrumental in inspiring action among young people; action that must translate to real change.
As the chorus of applause quieted, one-by-one the rest of the students rose to offer their own reflections.
Laura, eyes brimming with tears, decried the extreme inequality in her native Brazil, urging us to take action against injustice in our own communities.
Haneen, a Palestinian studying at the University of Haifa, nearly wept as she spoke of the ignorance and hatred pervading the conflict in her homeland.
Elisheva, an Ethiopian Jew also from Israel, followed her with a plea for us to reach beyond the superficial, to understand the humanity behind the headlines.
As students from China, India, and elsewhere spoke, their message was clear: our world is facing very real and very immediate challenges, challenges that must be met globally.
Fostering this global citizenship is at the heart of EPIIC’s mission, and it is an invaluable instrument for bridging the gap between the academic and the actual; for planting the seeds of real change in the minds of the next general of global leaders.
JJ Emru, Senior, Tufts University
…To be sure, the foreign students proved to be an invaluable asset to the panels themselves as well as the breakout sessions, but more than their presence during the formal events, their presence during informal meals, social events, and travel times enhanced my symposium experience phenomenally.
During several long conversations I had with students from Brazil or Singapore or China at the wee hours of the morning, I had to stop and reflect on how lucky I was to be broadening my perspective in such a significant way.
Just hearing the stories these unique individuals had to share, about their studies, about their families, about their societies, helped me connect the idea of Poverty and Inequality to its “Global” context.
When talking about issues of Poverty and Inequality in an academic setting such as Tufts, I often fear that we will fall into Said's self-aggrandizing and orientalist trap of discussing the undeveloped “others” as if curators of some well-contained museum exhibit.
With EPIIC however, this fear has never become a reality, and by adding the voices of students from around our world to the mélange of perspectives, we have set forth the notion that rather than curators, we are instead mere travelers, vagrants attempting to ask the right questions in search of difficult answers.
Zamir Ben-Basat, Law Student, University of Haifa, Israel
…Before any knowledge that I gained, and beyond any activities and cooperation that may be developed in the future, I must say that the visit was, first and foremost, an outstanding human and social experience. Though, "human and social experience" is not only joy and fun (which are important): I truly believe that meetings, deliberation and even debates between students from different backgrounds have a significant impact on us. These are not just words in the air.
Who ever attended in our informal, off-symposium discussions, for instance about the suppression of Falun Gong in China, the civil war in Rwanda or even the distributive decisions of the Israeli government, should understand the impact of these meetings.
Susan Nalugwa, National University of Rwanda, Rwanda
…Being able to come for that symposium opened up my eyes to the big picture, that I am not alone in this fight, and that there is someone somewhere being an instrument of change, I have traveled in Rwanda and seen what the genocide has done to my people and in the Northern part of Uganda and seen what Kony has done to the people and I almost gave up, seeing corrupt leaders get away with their corruption just because they have the power to do so.
At the symposium, I was able to understand that there is a new breed of young, intelligent men and women who share the same ideas with me, who want to put a stop to the injustice, corruption, poverty and I learned that none of us has to do it alone. We have to do it together because we are all little pieces of one particle, the "globe.” I learned not be concerned only about my country but the whole world, what affects Cambodia affects me, what affects Brazil affects me.
I guess for me, I felt it was time to view the world in a different perspective, to see the world and us as one people who are after achieving a similar goal, making our world a better place.
Matthew Weinberg, Senior, Tufts University
…What I will remember most, besides the embarrassment of intellectual riches uncovered over the week, was the delegations of students who came to Tufts University.
Given how difficult an operation it is to bring students from a dozen different countries from all corners of the world, the global diversity of the symposium proved to be its greatest strength.
Not only is my generation expected to think horizontally about the world’s most pressing issues and break away from the “zero-sum” mentality that has weighed down generations past, but we’re also tasked with an enormous challenge of working across geographic boundaries.
…The fact that the EMPOWER initiative brings together such geographically and culturally diverse students is essential in familiarizing the millennial generation with such a challenge. Whether it was during question time of the panels, outside the auditorium, in my apartment or at a basement party, there were real intellectual exchanges and friendships being formed.
Particularly striking to me were the testimonials from Haneen and others during the debriefing sessions just before the international delegations departed. Despite all of the domestic problems present in our home countries, we simply can’t be so near-sighted about problems outside our borders. Haneen, a Palestinian living in Israel astutely observed that Palestinians and Israelis all too often get wrapped up in their own conflict and cannot see what problems are happening outside their own contested borders. I believe the same could be said for all of us.
The same message is relevant whether you are a student from China, India, Rwanda or the United States. The interactions and this overall lesson was the greatest contribution of the EMPOWER component to the symposium.
In an age of hyper-social networking there should be no reason why diverse EMPOWER teams cannot conduct meaningful endeavors in the future.
Tenley Ghan, Sophomore, Tufts University
…The other amazing part about meeting the international students was imagining where we will all be in fifteen years. Throughout the Symposium, everyone offered different viewpoints on issues that I had never thought to assume before.
In my breakout session on China and India, the Chinese students challenged the rest of the room by saying that total freedom of speech is not a necessary element of society. They were perfectly content to live in a country with government censorship, asserting that they had “enough” freedom.
Given that freedom of speech has been a value impressed upon me for my entire life, as it has upon most Americans’, this was an unbelievable concept to me.
However, it made me rethink all my years of learning about the necessity of free expression. While it did not change my mind, I had not considered that viewpoint before and the experience was very interesting.
As JJ pointed out in a recent class, the students that were at the Symposium will likely be important players in their respective countries one day, and it is invaluable for us to begin to empathize with each other as early as possible. Having them at the Symposium gave me a chance to do this.
Clement Tan, Senior, National University of Singapore, Singapore
…Like I shared during the debrief on the Monday after the symposium programme officially ended on Sunday, being at Tufts for that week or so reinvigorated my entire sense of being.
After saying how I will never succumb to the status quo or any prescribed career path for the longest time, I found the going rough when it was time to actually walk the talk. Being in the company of other young people who had the same desire to make a difference and more importantly, people who made a career out of effecting social change helped me see that it was distinctly possible to do the same.
This gave a lot more shape and substance to the whole desire of not wanting to pursue the money and material riches path. The whole thing about social entrepreneurship for me was an example of articulating the alternative possibilities that I could devote my life to do.
Being at EPIIC has more importantly reaffirmed the thing I have for journalism, and reminded me of the social role of journalists as a form of checks and balances that captured my heart, mind and soul all those years ago.
The Institute would like to thank the many individuals who made the participation of the international students possible, including Ronit Alpern, Mario Becker, Robert and JoAnn Bendetson, Alix Cantave, Father Acnys Derozin, Juan Enriquez, Jane Etish-Andrews, Sarah Freeman, Pat and Manny Gantz, Lisa Goldberg, Sanjoy Hazarika, Sunny Kim, Peter Pang, and Paul Rugambwa.
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