Pardee Faculty Fellow Was Panelist in Nov. 15 “Global Conversation”

Pardee Faculty Fellow Muhammad Zaman took part in a lunchtime “Global Conversation” on Thursday, Nov. 15 as part of a program of activities organized by BU Global Programs to celebrate International Education Week (IEW), Nov.  12-16.

Prof. Zaman was joined by  Prof. Don Thea (Center for Global Health & Development) and Prof. Susie Foster (School of Public Health), who is a member of the Pardee Faculty Advisory Board, in a discussion on “The Role of a University in Creating Practitioners of Global Development.”

The panelists discussed current Boston University graduate programs in public health and engineering that are designed to ensure students get field experience working in developing countries, which all three stressed is a critically important part of education in global health and engineering and technology programs.

Prof. Zaman noted BU’s active involvement with “Engineers Without Borders” as a means for students getting field experience, while Prof. Thea discussed the requirement for all master’s in public health candidates focusing on global health issues to spend time working in Zambia as part of an ongoing BU research program there.

Prof. Foster described the need to make sure that students planning careers in public health in developing countries are prepared to handle situations they will find on the ground, such impassable roads, inadequate medical supplies, and lack of access to communications technologies that we take for granted here.  “It can be a real struggle,” she said. “It is hard to imagine, unless you’ve seen it.”  She added that she hopes such field work helps created “global citizens” as well as well-prepared public health practitioners.

Along with Global Programs, co-sponsors of this event included the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and the Center for Global Health & Development. The session took place at the BU Castle.

International Education Week (IEW), a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, was designed to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. During IEW, several programs and activities showcased BU’s myriad global dimensions. For more information, go to bu.edu/globalprograms/iew.