The need to understand issues in a global context has never been more urgent. Faculty and students will have to develop facility in cross-regional and cross-disciplinary work if they are to deepen their understanding of a world in which ideas and goods flow easily, regional concerns spill over borders, and economic markets interconnect. Moreover, many issues, from immigration to climate to cultural identity, reach around the globe, whether actually or virtually, intertwining developed and developing nations in important and often surprising ways.

In what ways does or should a Carleton education train students to understand and address global issues? The mission of the Global Engagement Initiative (GEI) is to frame answers to that question. Our feeling is that no department or program on campus is untouched by global issues, whether that be via off-campus study, the gradual internationalization of the faculty and student body, or the evolution of areas of study that challenge traditional disciplines and fields of knowledge.