University President Lariviere spent two days last week in Washington D.C. as a guest panelist at the first higher education summit intended to enhance partnerships and exchange opportunities between U.S. and India.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, along with Indian Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal@@http://www.sarkaritel.com/ministries/human_resource/index.htm@@, co-hosted the event, which saw over 300 business and academic leaders from both countries attend. The all-day summit began at 8 a.m. Thursday at Georgetown University with opening remarks from Clinton and Sibal, who both addressed the current status of higher education collaboration between India and the U.S.
“Educational collaboration is a driving force in our strategic dialogue with the government of India,” Clinton said. “This summit is a result of the discussions between President Obama and Prime Minister (Manmohan) Singh because for those of you who are watching the great rise of India, I hope you share our excitement that this largest of all democracies is on the path to providing greater benefits for their citizens within the context of freedom and opportunity.”
The summit marks a new phase in the strategic partnership between U.S. and India. The two sides endorsed an agreement detailing future actions between both countries including promoting strategic institutional partnerships and expanding collaboration in priority areas including science and engineering, social sciences and humanities.
“This historic summit will forge new collaborative association in which our young can draw inspiration from your benchmarks of excellence in education and innovation,” Sibal said.
The summit also included breakout sessions on student exchange, joint degrees and branch campuses, quality assurance and governance, building relationships through the private sector and expanding access to partnerships for workforce development.
President Lariviere was requested to sit in as a panelist during a breakout session that was closed to the public and press concerning faculty collaboration and scholarship between American and Indian universities. Lariviere participated in the panel’s discussion with the difficult task of building academic exchange programs between faculty members in India and the U.S. Lariviere was chosen to attend the summit because of his professional and academic background in Indian languages, culture and religion.
“I appreciate the invitation to participate in this important and timely conversation,” said Lariviere. “This is a great step in the U.S. State Department’s efforts to strengthen U.S. and Indian ties.”
Other faculty collaboration and scholarship panelists included CEO and President of the International Institute of Education Dr. Allan Goodman,@@http://www.iie.org/en/Who-We-Are/Governance/Executive-Staff/Dr-Allan-Goodman@@ President of the American Institute of Indian Studies Philip Lutgendorf@@http://www.indiastudies.org/catalog.cfm?dest=dir&linkon=Subsection&linkid=230@@ and Vice Chancellor of Hyderabad University Ramakrishna Ramaswamy.@@http://ktwop.wordpress.com/tag/university-of-hyderabad/@@
An estimated 100,000 Indian students already study at U.S. universities and colleges. The summit yielded positive dialogue on both sides as well as a commitment to future discussions to be held in 2012.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan expressed his hopes for the summit.@@http://www2.ed.gov/news/staff/bios/duncan.html@@
“I hope you will come away from this Summit with a renewed commitment to the U.S.-India partnership in higher education, and I hope you will come away with a renewed faith that this treasured partnership is a win-win proposition for both of our nations.”
U.S.-India higher education summit strengthens international relations in academia
Daily Emerald
October 17, 2011
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