Dear Middlebury Friends and Colleagues,
As a postscript to President Ron Liebowitz’s September 3 update on the Monterey Institute of International Studies, I want to offer you further insight into the West Coast institution that has been an affiliate of Middlebury since December 2005. For those of you who are not familiar with the Institute, the best introduction to our mission is through the visions of our students.
“I want to leave the world a better place than I found it, through my efforts,” said Ben, a U.S. student of International Policy Studies. “That’s why I’m here.”
Yin, a Chinese student of Translation and Interpretation, said, “I know that many MIIS students talk about changing the world, but I just want to be able to make two people who speak different languages understand each other.”
Esther, the eldest of 32 children, is the first woman from her Nigerian village to attend college. “My main goal,” she said, “is humanitarian services for women and children, the victims of conflict.”
Bishnu found a way to mitigate poverty in Nepalese villages by pioneering a bio-gas plant that would bring electrical power to homes. “If I can teach people anything,” he said, “it is to find a way, not to find excuses to give up.”
Nadia, pictured at right, received commendation from her country as the first Afghan woman after the Taliban regime to receive a master’s degree in the United States. She now works for the World Bank and is an advocate for women’s education in Afghanistan.
These are students and alumni of the Monterey Institute. It is through them that we exert a strong and positive impact on the world. “Global action” is the finest asset we can bring to the Middlebury-Monterey affiliation.
International students comprise 35 percent of the Institute’s student body, and nearly every U.S.-born student has studied, lived, or worked abroad. “International” is not just the Institute’s middle name; it defines our curriculum, outlook, and mission. The Institute campus is a mini UN, with many languages spoken, many cultures and perspectives represented.
And this diverse community is enriched by Middlebury alumni. This fall semester saw 35 applications from Middlebury graduates, as well as those who attended the Language Schools and Schools Abroad. Among them, 16 have enrolled at the Institute. Monterey students also have benefited from the affiliation; 26 students studied at the Middlebury Language Schools this past summer on a special scholarship.
But perhaps Kristin Rock best embodies the Middlebury-Monterey affiliation as she pursues simultaneous master’s degrees from the two schools: a Spanish degree at Middlebury and a TESOL degree from the Monterey Institute.
“Once I had begun the summer program at Middlebury,” said Rock, “I also learned, through a recent graduate, about the master’s programs at the Monterey Institute. I thought about applying to MIIS because I could see the connection between what I was studying at Middlebury and what I could learn at MIIS for a career in teaching language.”
This winter, two J-Term Monterey Institute courses will be offered on the Middlebury campus, one on Translation and Interpretation and one on Nonproliferation. Institute faculty members have visited and lectured at Middlebury, and Middlebury staff members have been assisting the Monterey Institute with business services, institutional research, information technology, human resources.
These are but a few examples of our ongoing interaction. Through the Middlebury-Monterey Task Force on Integration (M² Task Force), as laid out in President Liebowitz’s message, we are further strengthening inter-institutional connections. To this mutual goal, I welcome your ideas and your participation.
With best wishes,
Clara Yu
President, Monterey Institute of International Studies,
an affiliate of Middlebury College