IU planning to start global-studies school

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BLOOMINGTON – Indiana University is planning to start a new School of Global and International Studies that its president hopes will draw more attention to its international programs.

A Board of Trustees committee gave unanimous approval Thursday for the plan, which includes construction of a new building near the Wells Library on the Bloomington campus, The Herald-Times reported (http://bit.ly/ODkZ8K).

Administrators told the committee that IU already has 350 faculty members working on global and international issues, and that it teaches 70 languages.

“I don’t believe the world at large associates us with those strengths,” IU President Michael McRobbie said.

State officials would need to approve the building project and several new degrees planned for the schools, including programs in global development, health planning and policy, human rights and cultural diplomacy and international security.

Trustee Thomas Reilly Jr. said IU shouldn’t expect any state funding for the new building but supported the initiative, saying the trustees also needed to work to secure underwriting and other university resources for the plan.

College of Arts and Sciences Dean Larry Singell said the new school would pull together programs that IU already has on Latin American and Caribbean studies, Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

“The truth of why this is going to be such a phenomenal program is the quality of the faculty of IU,” Singell said. “I really do believe this is the right time and the right place to do this.”