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Former President of Cornell
University: Developing a Transnational
Perspective
By Wang Mingliang
PKU NEWS 2005--11—07
http://ennews.pku.edu.cn/news.php?s=131510016
PKU News, Beijing, Nov. 7th, 2005: Peking University had a special graduate today.
Dr. Jeffrey Lehman, former President of Cornell University, received an honorary
degree from Peking University. The ceremony was held at the Qiulin Hall at the
School of International Studies.
Wu Zhipan, vice-president of Peking University delivered an opening remark,
praising Dr. Jeffrey Lehman‘s achievement as well as his contribution between
Peking University and Cornell University.
Dr. Jeffrey Lehman then presented a vivid and inspiring speech, taking his own
example to show why it is important to develop a transnational perspective.
He shared with the audience how he decided to study in Paris in order to know the
French culture in a French perspective. He said that it is utterly important for us to
prepare ourselves in such a dynamic and shrinking world, and we should build strong
partnership with each other, address common challenges, and make a world of
interdependence.
Quoting one of his teachers,he made a point that we should learn through
experiencing and learn through doing. Only when we really put ourselves in a foreign
environment, could we genuinely understand a target culture in a different
perspective.
In Dr. Jeffrey Lehman‘s life, as he said, two cultures have attracted him so much.
One is French, the other is Chinese. As he has spent his earlier years learning more
about French, he would like to spend more time on the Chinese culture. He
suggested that US and China should build a much stronger partnership and deepen
awareness and understanding between each other.
At the end of his speech, he interpreted the meaning of graduation. In America, the
graduation ceremony is named Commencement, which literally means the beginning
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