The Kellogg Institute for International Studies hosted a panel discussion Thursday afternoon that explored how the Institute could take advantage of the opportunities offered by Notre Dame’s newest college, the Keough School of Global Affairs.
Kellogg Institute director Paolo Carozza moderated the panel titled “How Can the Kellogg Institute Flourish as Part of the New School of Global Affairs” in the Hesburgh Center Auditorium. His initial remarks expressed the University's clear commitment to use the founding of the new college as a way to build the University’s institutes, such as the Kellogg Institute, to a new height.
Members of the audience included Notre Dame students, members of the administration and members of the Board of Trustees, as well as scholars from and representatives for various NGOs and governmental agencies.
The panel included four academic and policy leaders closely associated with the Kellogg Institute: Wendy Hunter and Joseph Loughrey, both members of the Kellogg Institute Advisory Board, and Joseph Kaboski and Scott Mainwaring, both Kellogg Institute Faculty Fellows.
The panelists took turns highlighting how the distinct characteristics of the Institute, such as its research agenda, faculty abilities and outreach and partnerships around the globe, could benefit from the School of Global Affairs.
Loughrey said the Institute must continue to follow its initial strategy. The introduction of the School of Global Affairs, however, represents a positive opportunity to achieve that strategy faster than it would without the new college, he said.
“We should not lose sight as we move to new entity and have it end up clouding what we said was important to the success of the institution,” Loughrey said.
Loughrey said he believes the new school could create a new sense of aura for the University that portrays a university committed to better understanding the world around it and seeking ways to make a difference.
Hunter focused her remarks on how the new school should embrace a new approach when hiring faculty, headed by the efforts of the Kellogg Institute.
“The School of Global Affairs presents a great opportunity for the Kellogg Institute to make some hires in areas that probably wouldn’t be hired through traditional disciplines,” she said.
Hunter said she suggests hiring faculty that compliment, and not replicate, faculty already employed in the traditional disciplines. New faculty should be hired based on who can add a unique value, Hunter said.
“New faculty members must have a skill set that many faculty in existing disciplines do not,” Hunter said.
Hunter said she believes creating a unique faculty is integral to establishing a distinctive niche for the new school, and the school must rival existing global affair colleges.
“I think you have to think long and hard [about] what the distinctive feature of this school is going to be, especially because you have to come to Indiana to come here,” Hunter said.
Kaboski said there is a great need in the world for an institution like the Keough School that concentrated on human development and issues of global conflict and peace because the world is becoming increasingly more global.
Kaboski said he recognizes the challenge of building a new college.
“It seems a daunting venture to come to the middle of Indiana and build what we hope to be a leader of global affairs,” he said.
However, Kaboski said he sees the Kellogg Institute as a great foundation for the new college, especially during its initial stages. The Institute must play a leadership role during its opening stages, Kaboski said. He also said he perceives the new college as an opportunity for the Kellogg Institute to help grow a community of scholars that build of off each other.
Mainwaring, who spoke last, said the biggest opportunity he sees in the conception of the new college is for Notre Dame to become a national and international leader in human development.
The Kellogg Institute is full of students who want to make change, and it should use the new resources and faculty to become national leaders in international development, he said.
Mainwaring said new college will be a great asset to improving the gathering and promulgation of important research regarding international development.
“The capacity to rejuvenate efforts to get research out into other circles – policy, media – is something we have done pretty well historically, but we should aspire to do better,” Mainwaring said.
