GL OBAL CONNECTIONS
Peter Coclanis: Talent Doesn’t Respect Borders
About the
series
One of Carolina’s
most prominent
initiatives in
recent years is
the push to
become a more
global university.
This is the third
in a six-part
series in which
the Review will
ask those who
go abroad on
the University’s
behalf why they
went, what
makes UNC’s
presence there
important and
what does the
connection bring
back to Chapel
Hill, the state
and the larger
world.
The interviews
are conducted
and the
stories written by
student interns.
Peter Coclanis has a fairly broad job
description — he helps link UNC
to the rest of the world. On any
given day, you can find the associate
provost for international affairs in his office
on the top floor of the new FedEx Global
Education Center, talking about the University’s public health projects in South
Africa or a partnership with Kings College
in London. One country, however, is
bound to get Coclanis excited: Singapore.
Coclanis — who, as a historian, is a specialist in the economic history of Southeast
Asia — makes the 18-hour flight to Singapore about four times a year, conducting
University business, collaborating in
research and consulting for that country’s
Ministry of the Government. He says this
kind of global involvement — whether in
Singapore or Chile, London or Kenya — is
essential if UNC wants to stay relevant in a
globalized world.
“UNC is a very big-name university in
the U.S., but traditionally has been less of a
presence internationally as a brand,” Coclanis said. “What many people in the campus
are trying to do is make it a better interna-
tional player. We’re not doing a service to
either our students or the state if we proceed as if internationalization or globalization is not taking place.”
Coclanis joined the faculty in 1984 and
has held various teaching and administrative positions. His interest in Singapore
began in 1992, when he was there conducting research on a Fulbright Scholarship. He was impressed with the country’s
possibilities, and more specifically, the
National University of Singapore. When he
returned to Chapel Hill, he worked to
convince the administration to pursue a
partnership with NUS. Since then, UNC
and NUS have collaborated on an
exchange program involving a summer
study abroad experience. Each university’s
graduate school also has collaborated in
research ventures. Today, Coclanis says,
UNC’s work with NUS is the “jewel in
our crown” of international partnerships.
“NUS, by most comparative league
tables, is one of the great universities in
the world. It’s one of the best in
Southeast Asia. Singapore’s government is keenly interested in
‘We’re not doing
a service to either
our students or
the state if we
proceed as if ...
globalization
is not taking
place.’
Peter Coclanis
DAN SEARS ’ 74
