Faculty Perspective: Julian Chambliss

September 4, 2007

Assistant Professor of History Julian C. Chambliss Traveled to China China in May 2006

I think that the Petters Internationalization Grant for faculty is a wonderful opportunity, and I truly appreciate the experience I got from my trip. Yet, I think I came away from the experience with less a sense of alienation (everyone does not look like me!!) and more a sense of how small the world has become.

For me, our journey to China was filled with the realization that the desires, goals, and concerns that shape life in the United States are facing the Chinese. Yes, their language and culture are different. Yes, they are still doing it by hand (the agrarian life is alive and well), but if you looked you could see that they are living the industrial revolution. The brands you know, they know. The food you eat, they are acquiring a taste for. The stuff you want to buy (everything from raw materials to luxury goods) they want to buy.

This reality scares many Americans -- a new global power with a large army, a somewhat dictatorial approach and massive economic pull cannot help but concern some. Yet, if travel teaches you anything, it is that there are more similarities that bind us than differences that separate us.
- Julian C. Chambliss

Back to Rollins College Grows Globally