Reactions

Reactions to EPIIC 

Mel Bernstein Former Vice President for Arts, Sciences and Technology, Tufts University.

"The uniqueness of the EPIIC program flows from the opportunities it provides for our students to become fully engaged in the programming and planning activities of a series that has uncannily presented prescient, cutting-edge themes...EPIIC offers a unique way to share the excitement of intellectual discovery and freely exchange ideas. It brings students into contact with some of the great global thinkers and doers of our day, allowing them to interact and critique critical emerging issues and, in many cases, to help arrive at substantive recommendations."

Landrum Bolling Senior Fellow, Center for International Policy; Member, Board of Directors, Conflict Management Group; Former President and Rector, Ecumenical Institute, Jerusalem; Former Chairman and CEO, Council on Foundations.

"EPIIC is a remarkable, interdisciplinary, multi-generational, international, intercultural learning adventure...I have no hesitation in saying that nowhere in American education is there a single, multi-level project in the field of international education that offers so intense, so impactful a learning experience as is found in EPIIC, year after year. It is truly an exemplary national treasure, as well as an enormously enriching, mind-expanding opportunity for secondary and college students and the general public."

Jonathan Moore Former U.S. Coordinator for Refugees and Ambassador to the United Nations responsible for economic and social issues.

"Having been the director of the Institute of Politics for twelve years and having served on the faculty of its Kennedy School, it is easy for me to assess the EPIIC program at Tufts from an academic viewpoint and that of a competitor...And I do so with admiration and even envy." "...There are three characteristics of EPIIC which I would like to mention specifically. The first is the kind of research which the program's students are required to undertake, which is at the same time rigorous and relevant, analytically sound but requiring a political and cultural respect and a practical value. The second is the full-scope and full-bore engagement which this program invites of its participants, which apparently becomes irresistible, given their enthusiastic immersion, thirsty to apply the knowledge they are acquiring in their very high quality formal education to challenges of a human scale. The third is the confidence which the program instills in idealistic and spiritual commitment, the understanding that the joining of ideals with intellect and competence is to be pursued rather than shunned."

Murray Gell-Mann Nobel Laureate in Physics; Founder, Santa Fe Institute.

"Much mischief has been done in the world by trying to fit human beings into some neat scientific or mathematical idea, extrapolated beyond its validity. Nevertheless, it is worth making models of the future, but we have to regard them as 'prostheses for the imagination.' That's one of the theses emphasized here at EPIIC, and I couldn't be happier with this experiment in education."

Mark J. Miller University of Delaware and Editor, International Migration Review.

"...At a juncture when many institutions of higher learning are contemplating reform of undergraduate education and are experimenting with experiential learning as well as with innovative ways to teach about diversity and world affairs, EPIIC gave a lesson. The key is involving students in the organization of a symposium and seeing it through to a successful conclusion. In order to do this, students must learn their subject matter and then apply their knowledge. This is accomplished in an interdisciplinary way and requires a variety of skills of students ranging from public speaking to being able to work together in a group setting. What I saw accomplished at the symposium is what proponents of undergraduate educational reform dream about -- interdisciplinary study, learning in real world non-classroom settings, application of learning to critical issues of the day, engagement of students in ethical dilemmas, debate, study abroad, field research, and writing of high quality research papers which speak to important public policy issues for the U.S. and the rest of the world. Most of the educational techniques so skillfully woven together by EPIIC are within reach of all U.S. colleges and universities."

Jack A. Goldstone Professor of Sociology and International Relations, University of California-Davis; Consultant, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs and the Director of Central Intelligence, Environmental Sector.

"The EPIIC program at Tufts University is a most singular and remarkable program for developing future leaders. I have been associated with this program...for almost ten years. In that time, I have not seen a finer undergraduate program anywhere for inspiring students to seek creative solutions for the problems our society faces, today and in the future. Not only are the students bright...their ability to grapple with complex approaches is extraordinary."

Roberta Cohen Guest Scholar and Co-Director, project on Internal Displacement, Brookings Institution; Former Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary of State.

"Having addressed many students audiences in the past, in which a disheartening apathy toward international affairs was evident, it was a veritable pleasure to interact with students genuinely interested in complex international problems and in developing solutions for them. Their engagement, excitement and serious scholarship were clearly stimulated by the EPIIC program."

Kenneth Roth Executive Director, Human Rights Watch.

"This year's series of public forums provided one of those rare opportunities for human rights activists and others concerned with human rights issues to sit down in a more reflective setting to debate the fundamental questions that too often are left unaddressed as we respond to the latest emergency. The significance of such probing and exploration cannot be minimized...I must add that what has touched me even more than the opportunity for intellectual exchange has been the engagement of the student members of the project. Without question, EPIIC has produced students far better prepared to grapple with the critical issues of their time than those who have never ventured beyond a more conventional format."