(/multimedia/)| Multidisciplinary Problem Solving Is Focus of GATI | ||||
| Globalization, which affects
all members of the human community in myriad ways, has resulted in a new
approach in international studies at Michigan State University, a decades-long
leader in foreign language, area, and development studies. Four MSU centers
are making a concerted effort to support programs that are relevant to the
globalizing world and that will simultaneously increase MSU's expertise
in world areas through a series of thematically focused, multidisciplinary
interest groups of faculty and students. The initiative is called GATI,
or Global and Area Thematic Initiatives.
GATI began at MSU in 1998 under the leadership of four U.S. Department of Education-funded Title VI international centers: African Studies Center (ASC), Center for Advanced Study of International Development (CASID), Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), and the Women and International Development Program (WID). Drawing faculty and students from areas of the university well beyond the sponsoring centers, including many people who have not traditionally had international research interests, GATI has initially focused on three themes:
Within these areas, faculty from seven MSU colleges have formed twelve
multidisciplinary interest groups to work on specific initiatives.
Another GATI-supported faculty group offered the spring 1999 MSU course Aging and Eldercare in Rich and Poor Countries coordinated by Jacob Climo (anthropology) and John Herrick (social work). The class was linked to the April 1999 conference "Aging and Eldercare in Rich and Poor Countries: Facing the 21st Century," organized by Climo and Nan Johnson (sociology). Follow-up plans include publishing conference papers, developing a network of scholars, and ultimately establishing an International Center on Aging at MSU, for which external funding will be sought. Water Security: A Global Challenge, which emphasizes aspects of social participation in the management of water resources, is another successful faculty and student initiative of GATI, led by Bill Derman (anthropology) and Scott Witter (resource development). They have given a series of three workshops in Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and at MSU to develop demonstration watersheds. The MSU workshop in May 1999 brought together a diverse range of MSU faculty and students and experts from Africa and Mexico. Future plans include workshops in Mexico and Africa. Two group members, Witter and Scott Whiteford (anthropology), are editing Water Security: Issues and Policy Challenges, scheduled to go to press in September 1999. Derman and Anne Ferguson (anthropology) have both received Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Awards for work related to this initiative and have received USAID funding for a study of water reform in South Africa. In 1998-99, other GATI-supported activities included a contract with the World Bank, graduate seminars and undergraduate courses, several speaker series, bibliographies and Web sites, and other grants and conferences such as that on the challenges of economic transition in China, India, and Russia (see inset).
For full information about GATI, visit the —Adán Quan and Jay Rodman |
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| GATI Supports Conference on Economic Transition in China, India, and Russia | ||||
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Three massive "transition" countries were the subjects of the Michigan State University conference "China, India and Russia: Progress and Challenges of Economic Transition" in October 1998. A follow-up conference with a broader geographical comparative focus on Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe is planned for April 2000. Both conferences are important elements of the Global and Area Thematic Initiatives (GATI) program. Highlights of the October conference included keynote speeches by Deepak Nayyar, professor of economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, who spoke on "Economic Liberalization in India"; James Millar, director, Institute for European, Russia and Eurasian Studies, George Washington University, who spoke on "Progress and Prospects for the Russian Economy"; and Thomas Rawski, professor of economics, University of Pittsburgh, who spoke on "Transition in East Asia: Who Are the Players and What Have We Learned?" Scholars from universities in Europe, Russia, Asia, and North America presented more than 20 additional papers on a series of country specific and cross-national comparative panels. Norman Graham and Mohammed Ayoob are editing the papers for a published volume. Principal conference sponsors were the Asian Studies Center, the Center for European and Russian Studies, the Center for Advanced Study of International Development, the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research of the College of Social Science, James Madison College, and the International Studies and Programs Dean's Office. For more information about these conferences, visit the Web site at http://www.isp.msu.edu/CERS (http://www.isp.msu.edu/CERS) —Norm Graham |
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