Global Imperatives of the 21st Century: The Academy’s Response
Abstract Our twenty-first century world deteriorates socially, biologically, and physically while we in the Academy blindly pursue our “disciplinary truths.” As responsible members of the Academy and as interdisciplinary global studies specialists, we have an obligation to educate our students and colleagues by providing fundamental knowledge, tools, training, and hopefully passion to become interculturally competent and authentic global citizens. As a Coordinator of a Global Studies Program at a Land-Grant University, I would like to discuss specific strategies on how to motivate students, faculty members, and administrators alike in order to confront and resolve widespread problems in global social injustice and the ominously declining biological and physical states of our Earth. Most critically, we in the Academy, our honored and treasured professoriate, are obliged to provide the knowledge, tools, and leadership to engage the world and work toward resolution of our twenty-first century global imperatives.