Friday, October 22, 2010

Nelson Mandela in his own words

This is "pledge week" for public radio in Washington DC. I am a regular listener to American University's public radio station, WAMU. I appreciate the need for private funding in in a society where the notion that government should support anything worthwhile, excepting "national defense" and privileges for those with resources to make political contributions, is eroding. So I make my contribution and then listen to the BBC on line. This morning, there was a BBC documentary, Nelson Mandela in his own words. It is based on Mandela's extensive diaries and letters dating back to the time that he was first incarcerated. This is definitely worth listening to as a starting point for furtther explorations into the writings of this remarkable historical figure.

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Acknowledging an uniquely successful academic leader, AU's Dean Lous Goodman

Last week, AU’s Dean of the School of International Service, Louis Goodman, announced that he was stepping down after 24 years of service. Today, I was contacted by a reporter from American University’s newspaper, The Eagle. She is writing an article on Dean Goodman’s tenure and was seeking my thoughts. Here is what I wrote in response.


I have known Dean Goodman as a friend and served as an SIS faculty member under his leadership for more than 20 years. I dedicated my most recent book, Paradise Poisoned: Learning About Conflict, Development and Terrorism from Sri Lanka's Civit Wars (2005) to him. In my dedication, I wrote this: "As Dean of American University's School of International Service, he has established himself as one of the world's most effective leaders in International Relations higher education. A measure of his leadership is ability to demand that faculty meet high standards, while empowering them to follow their own intellectual lights..."


When one of my students became Dean Goodman's Executive Assistant (she held the position for more than a year) I told her that her position outside his office was a vantage point for observing one of the world's most effective academic administrators, from whom she could learn valuable lessons. "What did you learn," I asked, at the end of her year of service. "Dean Goodman is an incredibly effective time manager, though he does work incredibly long hours," she told me. "This gives him the opportunity to he far more accessible - not only to faculty and staff, but also students. He uses these meeting times efficiently, but always gives those with whom he meets his full attention. Students are amazed and empowered by these conversations - they tell me so. And he maintains contact with them - supporting and encouraging - over many years..." Dean Goodman is not only admired and respected but even beloved by many. This is because of this unique ability to hear people out; then to encourage and support them in ways that make a lasting difference in their lives. This is also his strength as an administrator. He leads by example, drawing forth the creative energies of his staff and empowering them to do their very best. He is very different from leaders, found in some organizations, who rarely listen to anyone and try to get results by ordering people around.

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Reconnecting with fundamental commitments

It is four o’clock, early on a Friday morning. I just finished a lengthy conference call to Singapore - the time difference is 12 hours - and decided I need to start blogging again. What explains the long gap between August 5th, when I wrote my ‘Singapore reflections’ and now?


I have been consumed by readjusting and by teaching. Returning to Washington I faced boxes full of stuff, needing unpacking, in every venue - the home in the country where I often spend weekends, my AU Anderson Hall apartment and my office in AU’s spectacular new School of International Service Building.


But more than that, I have found myself totally consumed by my obligations as a teacher and my commitment to take them seriously. In the semester before I stepped down as Director of AU’s Center for Teaching Excellence, the challenge of smoothing the transition to new leadership consumed me - teaching took second place and this was reflected in atrocious teaching evaluations. I felt compelled to write the students in my class a personal letter of apology, scant compensation for a semester in which I provided them far less value-added than they deserved.


This semester, I vowed things would be different. I am teaching one entirely new course and one that I had not taught for more than ten years. This has required intensive course preparation, an ongoing, semester-long process. Teaching is a craft. Like any craft, it requires practice and discipline, which takes time. Putting all else aside, to make quality teaching an overriding priority has been all-consuming, but it it is paying dividends and is intensely rewarding.


I believe I had some success as a university administrator - the Center for Teaching Excellence grew more than twenty-fold during my tenure and then survived the transition to new leadership in AU’s Office of the Provost. But I never saw myself as a career academic manager. My self image was always, first of all, as a producer of new knowledge with a commitment to making that knowledge accessible. Second I saw myself as a teacher and mentor with a commitment to empower creativity, discipline and out-of-the-box thinking in my students.


Reconnecting with those fundamental commitments has been a challenge that is ongoing. But I begin to feel I am progressing and it is good.

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