While I agree with the concept of the Chronicle’s point that universities should include a more globally caring image in areas of what is taught in “anthropology, cultural studies, economics, ethics and sociology,” it does make one look deeper into the problem.
Perhaps because I happened upon this article just a couple days after this one on India’s situation I am questioning the lack of national loyalty and responsibility in other countries where this type of assistance and planning is so desperately needed. I’m certainly no expert on world affairs, and know little about India’s economics, but I do know that education is highly prized and that universities are growing in this country. Students there, as well as those students who have left India and have been studying and gaining their degrees in European and American universities certainly produce engineers that should consider this a priority and design sewer systems that will bring the serious health hazard of open defecation to a halt, bring the outlying areas of the major cities into the modern day standards of hygiene and create jobs at the same time.
I’m sure there is a need for more caring on the part of Americans to expand their efforts and ambitions beyond our shores, but to point to it as “America’s Shame” is a bit harsh. There’s another factor at play here; America, supposedly the greatest and most diverse nation in the world, has its own share of rightful shame. Look under any overpass in New York City, any alley in Chicago and Detroit.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology