To the Editor:
Many thanks to Sarah Yu '11 for her thoughtful column ("Our say in academics," Feb. 2) regarding student involvement in curricular matters, especially those relating to international studies. Either I didn't express myself well or Yu may have missed part of my comments, so let me try again.
Since I was appointed vice president for international affairs last September, among my top priorities has been working with departments, the Watson Institute and the Dean of the Faculty to "deepen the bench" with respect to China studies at Brown. Simply put, we already have wonderful China studies faculty, and we want more. My comments in the talk Yu attended were not meant to imply that students were alone or mainly responsible for any lack of specific programs our course offerings. I said that one of the best things about being a faculty member at Brown is the extent to which students can be relied on to help develop all aspects of our curriculum with faculty and administrators.
And the invitation still stands: Please contact me — gutmann@brown.edu — as well as the Dean of the College with any and all ideas for strengthening international studies at Brown.
Matthew Gutmann
Vice President for International Affairs
Feb. 2
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