Conversation with Dr. Vishakha Desai: GIP Event

        On Thursday October 11, Poly hosted Dr. Vishakha Desai to talk about her recent book World As Family: A Journey of Multi-Rooted Belongings and engage in a conversation with the Poly community about our role as global citizens. To begin, I think I can speak for all of Poly when I say how honored we were to be able to host such an accomplished speaker. Throughout her life, Dr. Desai has distinguished herself as both a dedicated global citizen and a leader of global understanding and interconnectedness through her prominent roles in a number of organizations and communities. She is currently a Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia University, a Senior Research Scholar in Global Studies at its School of International and Public Affairs, and the Chair of the Committee on Global Thought at Columbia University. She is also currently the chair of the Board of Directors for AFS, American Field Service, and has previously served as the president and CEO of the Asia society. These are just a few of the many accomplishments of Dr. Desai.
        At Poly’s GIP event, one with almost 100 zoom attendees, Dr. Desai offered valuable insight into what it means to be a global citizen and how we can work to contribute to the global community at large. Something that particularly struck me about Dr. Desai’s perspective was her ability to connect and relate these ideas to current events, such as the pandemic. Dr. Desai talked about how the pandemic influenced the writing of her book, and in some ways, how it gave her a new perspective on the ideas that she had already included in her work.
        Furthermore, Dr. Desai responded to all of the audience’s questions with insightful explanations. The Q&A section was divided into two sections: one relating the idea of identity, specifically defining your identity within your family, local community, a newly adopted community; and the second relating to the idea of connecting globally/building communities across borders. Amid the entire Q&A section and Dr. Desai’s brief talk about the genesis of her book, one of my biggest takeaways from this event was the importance of seeing yourself as a member of multiple communities, the global community being one that everyone belongs to. Dr. Desai highlighted the importance of understanding how you can effect change through undertaking a kind of global identity and recognizing how your actions impact not only your immediate community, but the global community at large. Dr. Desai also touched upon how she dealt with the hardships that came with being a part of multiple communities with respect to her own identity, ultimately emphasizing the importance of embracing a diverse background and building connections across these communities.
        Overall, this was an incredibly worthwhile and engaging event, and I would highly recommend reading Dr. Desai’s book and considering her perspective on being a citizen of the world.


Image source: https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/faculty-research/faculty-directory/vishakha-desai