Lexington, KY - As America prepares for a military exit from Iraq, the Iraqi government is opening the door to global partnerships in rebuilding not only its infrastructure and its economy, but also its intellectual capital. And in January, the University of Kentucky was one of the first universities standing on the threshold this time around to greet them.
Representatives from UK and 19 other colleges and universities gathered at a two-day forum in Baghdad to discuss an Iraqi government initiative aimed at educating Iraqi students in English-speaking countries.
Assistant Dean of UK's Graduate School Patricia Bond and other administrators from across the country traveled to Iraq as guests of the government, with an open invitation from Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to meet with Iraqi higher education officials and prospective students and to begin the initial planning for the $1 billion study-abroad program, to be funded by the Iraqi government with the goal of reestablishing the nation's academic talent and resources.
"Part of the reason this initiative is so important is that the universities in Iraq are suffering from the isolationism they experienced for so many years before the war," Bond said. "Iraq was once a very well-developed intellectual resource for the world."
A pilot program will be launched this fall with roughly 500 Iraqi participants expected to participate, Bond said. Among the 20 educational institutions represented at the Baghdad forum with UK were Southern Illinois University, Valparaiso University, West Virginia University, Texas A&M, University of Iowa and the University of Kansas, and Bond estimates that 20 to 30 of those initial pilot program students could be enrolled at the University of Kentucky. The initiative's long-term goal is to enroll 10,000 students per year for five years at a variety of colleges and universities in English-speaking countries.
"U.S. colleges and universities will begin where the war, more or less, has finished," said Iraq Education Initiative Executive Director Zuhair Humadi through e-mail. "Our premise is that education is the key for any development in any society any place any time. ... Iraq is in a mood to catch up where it has stopped developing throughout the '80s and the '90s."
The initiative fits well with an effort in recent years to coordinate internationalization across all colleges at the University of Kentucky, which has been strongly supported by UK President Lee Todd and Provost Kumble Subbaswamy, according to John Yopp, associate provost for educational partnerships and international affairs.
"(UK's) major mission and goal is to prepare students for the world they are heading into," Yopp said. Technology and the globalization of markets has made global literacy a vital element of education, Yopp said, and personal interactions and associations with international students can help American students expand their cultural awareness and understanding. More emphasis on study-abroad opportunities and foreign language study, particularly in critical languages such as Chinese, Russian and Arabic, is also essential to the campuswide internationalization effort, Yopp said. Beyond its enhancement of the university's work in preparing students for a global playing field, an international emphasis also helps the university to expand the reach of its research, according to Yopp. "Research, by its very nature, is international," Yopp said.
While Kentucky's trade with Iraq has not been significant in the past, it has grown over the past five years, with exports increasing from $149,193 in 2003 to almost $15.7 million in 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce International Trade Administration. Roughly $12 million of that came from a surge in the export of fabricated metals in 2008, but other growing export markets included computers and electronic products, chemical manufactures, and plastic and rubber products. At this point, it is difficult to ascertain how much of that trade is war-driven, and how much is related to infrastructure development, but some experts suggest that after years of war and sanctions, as the country's security situation continues to stabilize, Iraq's potential as a global business partner is becoming increasingly attractive. Other nations are beginning to pursue economic opportunities in Iraq, as witnessed by a recent visit from French president Nicolas Sarkozy, which Sarkozy called a demonstration of France's willingness to participate in Iraq's economic development. A December Newsweek article written by Paul Brinkley expressed a similar sentiment for economic development and foreign investment opportunities, stating, "Now is the time to encourage America's business community to engage in a long-term partnership with Iraq, to invest and develop Iraq's resources and create cultural and educational ties. These will directly benefit the U.S. economy: Iraqis are eager to gain access to U.S. goods and services, as recent contracts for Boeing aircraft, GE turbines and Case farm tractors show."
In the meantime, the personal connections forged with international students on UK's campus in the coming years may be a first step toward stronger global relations across multiple academic and commerce-related fields, Yopp and Bond agreed.
Among the concerns addressed by the Baghdad forum delegation was an interest in ensuring the program offered opportunities in an even-handed manner to a diverse population, including women and ethnic minorities, Bond said.
"Their plan is to have a selection process that reflects the diversity of the population in each region (including Kurdistan)," Bond said.
The specific application processes and program procedures are still being developed, Bond said, along with various plans to promote security and smooth cultural acclimation, but the students and professors she met with during her trip to Baghdad were very receptive.
"I came away very optimistic," said Bond, whose son, UK graduate Maurey Bond, is currently living and working as a business development consultant in Baghdad. "I was impressed with the students in terms of their hope for the future and their enthusiasm for this opportunity."
While the initiative will offer a world of new experiences for Iraqi students, Bond believes one of the most valuable benefits of the scholarship program for its host universities in the United States will be the opportunity to demystify the Middle Eastern population for American students.
Yopp said that the efforts to recruit more international students, along with the university's larger internationalization efforts, help it serve not only the preparatory needs of its students, but also the broader constituencies served by UK - Lexington, the state, and the business community.
"It's important that we learn what they see out there," Yopp said of the business community's efforts to be globally competitive. "They are competing in a globalized world, and we have an obligation to do what we can to assist them, but we can learn from them as well."