Posted by PATRICK KENNEDY – Missouri State Senator Jeff Smith spoke at the Clinton School Thursday evening about the highly acclaimed documentary, Can Mr. Smith get to Washington Anymore?
In response to a question by a Clinton School student, Smith said “one of the amazing things about this school (Clinton School) is that it teaches academics for the real world.” Externally, the community observes the various public service projects by Clinton School students; a by-product of the “practical emphasis” of the UACS curriculum. Internally, there is constant debate as how to merge theory with practice.
Having previously worked at a public policy center, we thought of ourselves as a medium, or a shuttle between policymakers “who do” and the academicians “who theorize.” The Clinton School is not a school of public policy. Rather, we teach our students to act, to change and to lead. The students need a strong theoretical base upon which to act, but the curriculum must primarily emphasize how to be successful in the world outside of academia. In order to do this, there is a need to train both students and professors.
In a recent article in the Harvard International Review, former Harvard President Larry Summers (who is set to speak at the Clinton School later this spring) discusses the difficulty of such an endeavor. He suggests academicians feel the need to maintain the “purity” of their academic research, so as not to be tainted by the vulgar interests of the real world. Social philosophers such as Eric Hoffer claim that academicians have a special interest, both professionally and psychologically, in explaining their work/research so that only a few specialists within their field understand.
I tend to agree that a certain narcissism exists in academics these days. The Clinton School faces the enormous challenge of addressing this problem and communicating difficult concepts in “real world” terms.
Jeff Smith, a professor at one of the most well-respected universities in the world, spoke about the importance of the Clinton School’s mission to find an effective medium between theory and practice. Smith’s creative campaign strategies demonstrated that true innovation requires a certain patience and flexibility from both actors and theoreticians. In the “World is Flat” era today, it is clear that we must redefine our notion of “academics” to fit the needs of the real world. This is exactly what the Clinton School is beginning to do.