The Dartmouth bubble. Almost everyone agrees it exists, and the columnists on these pages have sure spent a lot of time pondering it. But this notorious bubble has done more than narrow students' mindsets. It has, in a way, physically trapped the College itself. While other colleges are rushing to scatter research centers, degree programs or expand campuses all around the world, Dartmouth remains completely confined to a secluded few square miles here in the Upper Valley.
Last month, Yale University announced plans to create a liberal arts college in Singapore, becoming the latest in a long list of schools to expand its presence overseas. Cornell University, Georgetown University, Carnegie Mellon University and New York University all have built branch campuses in emerging markets in the Middle East. Duke University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have risen their international profiles by offering joint degree programs with universities in Asia. And almost all of our peers have signed some formal research partnership with a foreign institution. But not us. We are still grounded in tiny Hanover, N.H., and the only way for people to get a Dartmouth education or do research for the College is if they come here.
The administration seems to realize the value in fostering a global perspective, and is eager to make our education accessible to people from all over the world. Students here have numerous study abroad opportunities. The Dickey Center provides generous funding for research in other countries and offers an international studies minor. We welcome international applicants with open arms and are one of the few colleges in the nation that offers them need blind admissions.
Yet, despite our desire to foster international dialogue and understanding, there has been no talk about establishing major collaboration overseas, let alone building an entire satellite campus. Granted, our study abroad programs provide for rewarding experiences, but they are somewhat one sided and do not allow us to spread our own academic influence. Establishing some sort of physical presence abroad will allow Dartmouth to create a relationship with a foreign country that no FSP, LSA or exchange program can ever achieve.
Expanding internationally will also give the College some much-needed name recognition. Dartmouth may be a great school, but we are hardly a household name. Sure, some might argue that the people who matter (i.e. the folks at Goldman Sachs) all know about us, but this can only be said about employers in the United States. Because of our small size and preference for teaching over prolific faculty publication, we are at an inherent disadvantage when it comes to shining on the international stage. Those of us with friends and relatives in other countries will undoubtedly agree that Dartmouth is not the best known of American colleges. Yet, with so many students here aspiring to go abroad after they graduate and possibly work in a different country it would be nice if their prospective employers recognize the name of the school on their resumes.
Whenever there's talk about an expansion of the College, people are always concerned that it'll destroy the small, liberal arts environment that we value so dearly. But creating a branch thousands of miles away will hardly change what we have here in Hanover. If anything, it will allow students abroad to enjoy what we have here. The goal of the Yale and NYU programs is to establish a liberal arts school in a place where the experience previously had no meaning. Isn't it ironic that it is NYU that's abroad promoting a liberal arts education, while we sit at home lamenting the end liberal arts?
Dartmouth has long prided itself on maintaining its time-tested academic traditions, but higher education is constantly evolving. Colleges have embraced the idea of global campuses as the way forward, and we risk falling behind if we don't as well. Without acclaimed Nobel Prize-winning professors and large graduate programs, it's already quite difficult for us to compete for international recognition. With the establishment of overseas flagships, our peer institutions will likely gain even more clout abroad. In this global society, we can no longer afford to remain in our little Hanover bubble.
