When is your birthday? What is your star sign?
Actually its coming up soon. It’s on October 18th, I’m a Libra.Where did you attend university and what did you major in?
I attended the University of Notre Dame and I majored in Political Science and Modern Languages; it was a special program. At about the same time that I began my studies at Notre Dame, the University began a new initiative for a selected group of third year students. It was referred to as the Committee on Academic Progress (CAP) and I was invited to participate. The program allowed those students a great deal of flexibility in course selection as well as the possibility to do interdisciplinary work and independent study. My two main areas of study in the CAP program were modern languages and political science.
I am aware that the International College is trying to make Martial Arts a major, could you tell me a bit about that?
Yes. It is a liberal arts major with both a theoretical and practical dimension to it. It has not yet been approved by the state but it will be presented to the Board of Governors on October 20th. In the program there are four different areas that students will have to study. Students will have to study an East Asian language and in addition to that there is a part of the major that deals with the religion, culture and philosophy. There is also a psycho-social aspect which has to do with the impact of martial arts on behavior. Then, there is the practice components they could choose from. There is a choice
between Tae Kwan Do which is a hard martial arts that has to do more with kicking and punching and Tai Ji Quan which is a soft martial arts.
There was an article in Business Week that mentioned UB and specified IPED. What steps need to be taken to push IPED to be a graduate or Doctorate program?
We would have to increase both the size of our faculty and likewise the collection in our library. Also, we’d have to establish that there was a demand for it.
Will events like the debate on Monday between a republican
representative and a democratic representative continue here at UB, often given that they may be expensive to fund?
We try to do these types of events at least once or twice a semester.
We don’t pay speakers for our programs; people volunteer. Craig
Stapelton will be speaking at the foreign policy debate. He was an ambassador under President Bush’s father in the Czech Republic and he lives here in Connecticut. On the democratic side we have Jim Maloney who is a former United States congressman. He is also from Connecticut.
Here comes a common question: what career path could an IPED or World Religion major take after graduation, and is graduate school imperative?
IPED majors are well prepared for a number of career possibilities and what is referred to as risk management. Any bank, investment, or insurance company, when trying to make business, always look at three risks: political risks, economic risks, and credit risks. I think IPED majors are very well prepared in risk management. IPED majors also have a good understanding of world affairs so they could work in any
area of a company or corporation that has an interest in extending their commerce beyond the US because they have an international consciousness and understanding of how economic and political systems function in other countries. They’re also well prepared to work for any Non-Governmental Organization. Religion is the program at UB which best prepares students to understand every aspect of the world because the root of all cultures is religion and if you know the difference of religions then you understand the foundation of many of the cultures around the world.