International educational programs, like that at Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, are essential for preparing students to share in the cross-pollination of ideas, knowledge, experience and expertise in the collective network of the global village.

Marshall McLuhan coined the phrase ‘global village’ in 1964 in his book Understanding Media to liken the intimacy of global life to that of the intimacy of life in a small village. The existence and preservation of the modern global village evolve from an extended network of lives intertwined via electronic and digital communication. This extended network of modern communication has diminished the spatial dimensions of the globe and includes the vast population of China.

The progression of communication in China that contributed to this change started with telegraphic and telephone technology early in the last century. Then, rather than weeks and days for a letter to travel from city to city, transactions took hours and minutes. Subsequent microwave and satellite transmission and fiber-optics and digital technology in China increased the exchange of ideas, knowledge, experience and expertise to seconds and microseconds within the geographical boundaries of the country. This in turn nudged the communication network of China to coalesce with global networking that has inextricably transformed China from a land of self-pollination to one sharing in cross-pollination in the global village.

International educational programs funnel energy and creativity throughout each component of this global community. Just as the survival of a small village is dependent on the cooperation and contribution of each resident, the continued existence of the global village is dependent on the cooperation and contribution of each nation. The cooperation and contribution of each nation stems from the education of its youth.