By Rosie Levine
On Sunday, November 6, the Yenching Academy welcomed Dr. Vishakha N. Desai, Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia University and Senior Research Scholar at its School of International and Public Affairs. Dr. Desai hasenjoyed a distinguished career in some of the world’s most prominent museums,including her role as Senior Advisor for Global Programs to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and Director of the Asia Society Museum. Dr. Desai also served as President and CEO of the Asia Society, and received an appointment from President Barack Obama to serve on the National Museum and Library Services Board.
Dr. Desai joined Prof. Yuan Ming, Dean of Yenching Academy, and a selected group of Yenching Scholars for a luncheon and discussion in Jing Yuan Courtyard. Dr. Desai’s career has been dedicated to enhancing public understanding of Asia, and that remained the central theme of Sunday’s discussion. Dr. Desai was able to draw on her wealth of knowledge and experience to address topics ranging from the challenges of advocating for culture in today’s political climate to the China-India relationship.
Dr. Desai called for culture to be treated as a cornerstone of policy making rather than a formality, arguing that deeper cultural understanding will create better policies. She argued that cultural competency and global awareness will become the most important skill-set for our increasingly global and interconnected generation. Dr. Desai also decried the increasingly xenophobic and isolationist bent in political decision-making around the world. She stressed instead the importance of “collective responsibility” in societies.
Dr. Desai stressed to the scholars that during her time at the Asia Society she worked on uniting Asia and America rather than bringing Asia to America. This agenda included opening centers in Asia, as well as creating partnerships and parity between Asia and America. Further, Dr. Desai stressed the importance of intra-Asian cultural exchange, especially between India and China, emphasizing that these nations’ cultural understanding does not need to be mediated through the global North.
Dr. Desai’s talk provided a welcome perspective on the value of cultural understanding in the modern world. Dr. Desai’s rich background in the field alsooffered some tangible examples of ways in which culture can be added to existing political, economic, and educational sectors. This message was welcomed by the students from the Yenching Academy, who are committed to cultural understandingin all their academic and personal suits. Dr. Desai’s advice for global scholars going into a world of increased fear-mongering and xenophobia was to share the message that globalism is not for the elite few – globalism is our new reality and global understanding is the only way to secure a peaceful future.
