 "Photo:")
California is traditionally a testing ground for political innovation, social awareness and economic creativity. We try it and, if it works, the rest of the country (and often the globe) adopts it. If a concept catches on, the U.S. embraces it. If it's not amenable to other states, it's blown off as another goofy, crazy California fad or media stunt.
Yet, one tier of California's public higher learning - the California State University system - is not truly appreciated or acknowledged for its educational creativity, even though it is already a veritable testing ground for sharing intellectual diversity with other countries.
One educational experiment that seems worth pursuing is a symbiotic student and faculty exchange program that would see Cal State Long Beach's College of Liberal Arts and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) share academic resources.
The initial plan is to do modest exchanges, allowing students and professors to do exploratory stints at their transnational counterparts' universities.
This type of project is not education by osmosis. It's hands-on research and service learning, plausibly benefitting other colleges in such disciplines as sociology, history, literature, anthropology, the arts, economics and business administration, to name a few.
The California-Mexico Project could feasibly be an important stride in expanding cultural learning opportunities for both countries at a critical juncture in time.
One outcome is that the research capacity and interactivity may well provide short- and long-term results on both sides of the border in how we structure K-12 education, develop diplomatic policies and help feed the impoverished.
While the program is in the umbilical stages, eventually, transnational programs with California's nearest neighbor might mushroom. It could conceivably provide cooperative grants, scholarships, internships and fellowships. Educators and students alike would be able to spend a semester, or a full academic year, with their host country's university.
Study abroad isn't a new concept, yet CSULB currently does very little intense exchange study with Mexico, other than brief vacation-like jaunts and volunteerism in remote regions.
And let's face it, spring break in Cancún, Tijuana or Rosarito Beach is not studying abroad.
The success of projects like this holds the potential to increase CSULB's status as a go-to university. The University of California system already has exchange opportunities with Mexico, but with CSULB's demographics, it's a shame we haven't explored this sooner.
In 2003 we had three-tenths of one percent of our student population, with a grand total of five students, declaring Mexican citizenship. In 2007, that grew by a whopping half percent to six.
Compare this with California's overall statistics. With an estimated 35 percent of the state's population being Latina/o, about 80 percent are of Mexican descent.
CSU Northridge recently developed a Central American studies program, borne out of its Chicano studies program. Students have touted the importance, necessity and appreciation for their interdisciplinary experiences with Central America, so it only seems logical to invest the same combined lateral intensity with Mexico.
The California-Mexico ideal might also serve as a lure for other international students. China and European universities and businesses are investing heavily in Mexico. Imagine how the rest of the world might embrace us as educational leaders and intellectual partners when we can communicate effectively, lead by example and share learning with our southern partners.
Only about 10,000 UNAM students per year currently do some type of study abroad in the U.S., and the cream of the crop mostly go to more prestigious institutions like Ivy League and private universities. Rarely do they swap students and teachers with California's public universities.
While student exchange programs are not the panacea for curing global issues like poverty, hunger, emigration and immigration, this type of close inter-scholarly trade-off could be a sparkle in academia's eyes for years to come.
Either that or it's just another goofy, crazy California fad.
