Tufts International Mission
Education does not accomplish anything if it does not stretch your mind, if it does not force you to think about things in different ways, if it does not challenge you to examine some of your assumptions. This is particularly important in the international arena. We fail to understand other cultures at our peril. The notion that leaders and citizens in one country can know the thoughts and feelings of their counterparts abroad without a nuanced knowledge of the others' culture, language, history and politics is absurd. And yet we see this happen again and again in history. Knowledge without leadership leads to an ineffectual ivory tower. But leadership without knowledge is dangerous. As a University committed to internationalism, Tufts has a more important role to play now than ever before, in preparing leaders with a rich and textured understanding of the world in all its complexity and diversity.

Jamshed Bharucha
Provost and Senior Vice President
Copyright Tufts University