In a sign of the times, globalisation has reached parts, we maybe thought that it would never reach. But not everyone is very happy about it.
The 'Politecnico di Milano', a prestigious Italian University has announced that from the 2014 semester, its going to switch most of its degree courses - including all its graduate courses - to the English language.
They say that in a global market they need to compete for foreign students, especially from Asia (where Italian is all Greek to the majority of students), and to prepare their own students for the employment market, in which English is the 'lingua franca' of commerce, sciences, I.T., engineering, and communications. Ironically, Italy was of course the birth place of the worlds last great global language Latin.
Milan, the city, is already partly equipped for the transition because on the local metro and railway, announcements are in Italian and English, and so there is already an element of 'Globalisation' in the city.
Needless to say, this eminently sensible response to the facts of the world has not met with universal approval, and 'The 300' are a group of professors and assistant professors who have signed a petition against the change, but it seems in vain. Professor Azzone the Chancellor said "I would have preferred if Italian was the common language, it would have been easier for me - but we have to accept real-life".
I know only that all things being equal, that given a choice between a cold wet northern university, or a sunny Mediterranean one, Milan is on a winner.
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| Milan's Politecnico di Milano - For English Speakers Only. |
The 'Politecnico di Milano', a prestigious Italian University has announced that from the 2014 semester, its going to switch most of its degree courses - including all its graduate courses - to the English language.
They say that in a global market they need to compete for foreign students, especially from Asia (where Italian is all Greek to the majority of students), and to prepare their own students for the employment market, in which English is the 'lingua franca' of commerce, sciences, I.T., engineering, and communications. Ironically, Italy was of course the birth place of the worlds last great global language Latin.
Milan, the city, is already partly equipped for the transition because on the local metro and railway, announcements are in Italian and English, and so there is already an element of 'Globalisation' in the city.
Needless to say, this eminently sensible response to the facts of the world has not met with universal approval, and 'The 300' are a group of professors and assistant professors who have signed a petition against the change, but it seems in vain. Professor Azzone the Chancellor said "I would have preferred if Italian was the common language, it would have been easier for me - but we have to accept real-life".
I know only that all things being equal, that given a choice between a cold wet northern university, or a sunny Mediterranean one, Milan is on a winner.
