Dr. Vishakha Desai Speaks About Global Consciousness and National Identity

 On November 10, 2021, Global Scholars Anna M., Martin L., and I hosted “"Dr. Vishakha Desai on World as Family: A Journey in Multi-rooted Belonging." This GIP event of the year featured Dr. Vishakha Desai, who serves as Senior Advisor for Global Affairs to the President of Columbia University, Senior Research Scholar in Global Studies at its School of International and Public Affairs, and Chair of the Committee on Global Thought. She is also the Chair of the Board of Directors of AFS, an organization that has enriched the Poly community for over 60 years with its exchange students on campus.

Dr. Desai started the GIP event by sharing her personal experience living in America to emphasize how to be both a local and global citizen. She further explores this topic in her book that she published last May during the pandemic, World as Family: A Journey of Multi-Rooted Belongings. As a young Pakistani-American Muslim finding my place in the ever-changing world, books like Dr. Desai’s World as Family are especially pertinent to understanding how I can be a global citizen without sacrificing parts of my identity. 

She then answered some questions from the audience and other Global Scholars in the Q&A section led by Anna M. and Martin L. The Q&A section was broken into two sections: "Defining your identity within your family, local community, and a newly adopted community"; and "Building connections and community across borders (especially in the pandemic)."

I am grateful to Dr. Desai for sharing her insights with us. I was so impacted by her statement that, in the time of COVID-19, no one is safe until we are all safe. She has inspired me to think about family on a larger scale than just blood relatives and to be caring and connected change-makers within this family. I was also inspired to continue putting empathy into action through building connections across communities.