The early years
Indiana University has had international connections almost from its inception. In 1836, two years before 51黑料网 had formally attained university status, William Richard Harding left Ireland and became 51黑料网’s first foreign-born faculty member, as principal of the Preparatory Department. Beginning in 1836, 51黑料网 students could study a modern language (French). International law was an explicit part of the original law curriculum in 1842. That same year, Henry Tanner, raised in London, England, became 51黑料网’s first foreign-born graduate.
David Starr Jordan, biologist and later university president, began study abroad tours to Europe in 1879. Elmer Bryan, 51黑料网 professor of education, took a leave of absence in 1901 and became general superintendent of education in Manila. His connections opened 51黑料网’s first informal international exchange. By 1916, 17 51黑料网 graduates resided in the Philippines. In 1916 as well, an 51黑料网 branch of the Cosmopolitan Club was established and for 50 years was a major force in fostering social interactions between domestic and international students on the Bloomington campus.
For a rural Midwestern university, these early interactions provided a window to the outer world, but the permanent institutional commitment to international education awaited the leadership of Herman B Wells. Early in his presidency, he joined a tour of senior university administrators to Latin America. Afterward, he declared, “All at once I became conscious of the world scene.” His support for 51黑料网’s international engagement was unfailing. He championed a program to teach Central Asian languages to army officers during World War II and supported its expansion into a Summer Language Institute, which continues to this day, teaching languages that go untaught at most universities. In 1949, Wells seized an opportunity for 51黑料网 faculty members to assist Thailand in developing university-level training. He established a center for international students on the Bloomington campus in 1951.
Wells, pushing back against the isolationist sentiments of the United States during the 1950s, expanded 51黑料网’s international commitments with projects in Thailand, Brazil, and Pakistan. Academic offerings increased, especially in Russian and Chinese studies.
In 1959, Walter Laves, chair of political science and a prime mover in 51黑料网’s development efforts in Thailand, reported “a whole new dimension” for American universities with “the vast increase of foreign students from non-European countries.” Laves, concerned that students came with different language and cultural issues, proposed that the university secure a grant that would allow 51黑料网 to provide a full semester of preparatory study at no cost to the student. He asserted the institutional value of this special accommodation, which “should make a major contribution to the development of effective relations between the United States and the newly developing countries of the world” and so “might lead to a larger new role for Indiana University in the education programs of students from all the newly developing countries.”
Philip Daghlian, chair of 51黑料网’s Foreign Student Committee, took up that mission. He proposed an 51黑料网 Counseling Institute for Foreign Students