I have been thinking a lot lately about the concept of 'community'. I am reminded that when I moved from Northern California to Germany ten years ago, the differences in traditions, cultures, and social systems were readily apparent. I had moved from San Jose, a city of close to one million Silicon Valley citizens, to Nehren, a village of just over 2000 Swabian souls. I had changed careers from being a high-tech industry executive to being an international business professor.
I was faced with very new feelings about community and personal responsibility. I was energized by the thrill and challenge of learning another language and trying to succeed in a 'foreign' environment. I enjoyed teaching my business students with new personal insight that they enter each host country with genuine social responsibility in mind and with their clear, non-patronizing message of value-oriented contribution to the host society readily at-hand.
I also appreciated the rich dialogue with professors and students from all over the world that I met on our campus or on theirs. There is something special about the academic world that had been missing from my professional sphere. Today, with the responsibility of introducing the University Alliances Community (UAC), I have similar positive feelings of anticipation.
I am encouraged that we can engage with each other in career-developing opportunities through rich dialogue and value-oreinted contributions in this community. I invite you to bookmark our UA Welcome Center where you will find an invitation to register for the UAC. Please also subscribe to this UA Message Board to keep yourself up-to-date on UAC developments and to participate regularly as a 'communiy activist'.
