Reporter Volume 25, No.18 February 24, 1994

NAFTA AND HIGHER EDUCATION: 
THE CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL DIMENSIONS OF TRADE

By Philip G. Altbach

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) promises closer
economic relations in the world's largest trading bloc. However,
unlike the European Union, the pioneering trade agreement, NAFTA has
no cultural or educational dimension. Closer economic ties will
inevitably have cultural and educational implications. Now is time to
reflect on what North American economic integration will mean to other
aspects of the complex set of relations between Mexico, the United
States, and Canada. The universities in all three countries can play
an important role in shaping a future in which there is better
understanding of three diverse cultures, and in which the skills
necessary for economic integration are available. 
	In Europe, education and culture were part of the vision of
the European Community from the beginning, and were enshrined in the
Treaty of Rome and have been subsequently strengthened. Of course, the
concept of the ECQthe complete political, economic and cultural
unification of western EuropeQwent far beyond trade, although economic
relations were at its core.  Even if NAFTA is significantly less
grandiose in concept, there is much that can be learned from the
European experience. One of the main lessons is that commercial
relations are not enough, and that mutual understanding is an
important part of any constructive relationship. The European
experience also shows that educational integration and cooperation is
not easy, and that considerable attention needs to be given to the
"soft" dimensions of commercial and political arrangements.
	It is important to start with reality. In North America, the
variations and inequalities in educational, cultural, and
technological power among the three countries involved in NAFTA are
immense. The United States, in terms of its higher education system,
its R and D expenditures, and its technological infrastructure,
dominates not only its NAFTA partners, but is the largest and most
influential academic system in the world. Further, U.S. cultural
domination, through film, television, and the print media, is also
evident.  The United States is the center and the two other countries
are, to a significant, degree, peripheral. Canada has long worried
about U.S. cultural domination, and has put into place regulations
aimed at preserving a degree of autonomy. Canada itself is divided
between its Anglophone and Francophone cultures in an uneasy
relationship.  NAFTA will make the maintenance of Canadian cultural
autonomy more difficult. 
	Mexico also has a long tradition of worrying about U.S.
cultural domination. It has traditionally looked in several directions
in terms of education and culture.  Along with Argentina and Brazil,
it has long dominated Latin American publishing, film, and culture.
While little recognized north of the Rio Grande, Mexico is itself a
significant educational and cultural power. Mexico has also been
influenced by European and especially French, for intellectual
thought. At the same time, Mexico has been greatly influenced by the
United States. It is significant that President Carlos Salinas de
Gortari graduated from Harvard, and his hand-picked successor is also
a graduate of a U.S. university. Mexicans and Canadians have
traditionally been greatly concerned about U.S. domination. It is not
surprising that the concept of dependency as a means of describing the
economic domination of powerful capitalist nations over smaller
peripheral states in terms not only of business, but also in culture,
was developed by Mexican social scientists in the 1960s. 
	Educational and cultural relations have always been lopsided
and complex. For example, there are approximately 7,000 Mexican
students studying in U.S. colleges and universities, while about 2,000
students from the United States study in Mexico. Canadian figures show
an even greater imbalanceQabout 19,000 Canadians study in the U.S.,
while only 3,000 Americans attended Canadian universities. U.S.
textbooks, scholarly publications, computer software, and data banks
can be found through North America. 
	At the same time, there is considerable ignorance of the major
cultures of the continent outside national borders. In the United
States, there is considerably more emphasis on Europe and Asia in the
curriculum of colleges and universities, and Latin American studies
does not focus mainly on Mexico. While Spanish is the most popular
foreign language among U.S. secondary and college students, fluency in
Spanish is quite limited and knowledge of Mexican culture and history
is very limited. Canada is even more neglected. Only a handful of
academic institutions offer any courses specializing on Canada, even
though Canada is the U.S. largest trading partner. It is significant
that U.S. professors were less oriented to international academic
influences than were their Mexican colleagues in a recent study of the
international academic profession. News about Canada and Mexico is
notably absent from U.S. mass media. Recent trends toward
multiculturalism in the curriculum of American colleges and
universities have tended to focus more on Mexican-Americans than on
Mexico itself.  In Mexico and Canada, there is considerably more
knowledge about the United States, but it is fair to say that there is
little systematic study of the U.S. in the colleges and universities
of these countries. It is one thing to know about the United States
from watching CNN or "Dallas," and quite another to study about the
country systematically. There is, without doubt, a considerable
knowledge deficit that needs to be rectified.
	Now is the time to build the educational bridges that will
provide needed understanding, knowledge and skills required to deal
with more intimate trade relations, and general sensitivity to the
complex cultures of North America. There are a number of important
concrete steps that can be taken now to put into place the educational
and cultural infrastructures. The following suggestions are focused
mainly on what the United States can do to prepare itself for the era
of NAFTA, but these ideas will be relevant to all three countries. I
am concerned here mainly with postsecondary education, but attention
must also be given to elementary and high schools as well. 
n	Mexico and Canada must become primary foci for the Fulbright
Program and other national agencies involved with educational and
cultural exchange. Many more lectureships, research scholarships and
other exchanges must be made available.
n	U.S. colleges and universities must build ties to counterparts
in Mexico and Canada through institution-to-institution exchanges,
partnership agreements, and the like. Students in all fields, perhaps
especially in such professional areas as business, engineering, and
education should be encouraged to study in these countries. The number
of "year abroad" opportunities for undergraduates must be dramatically
expanded. Geographical proximity reduces costs and the use of
languages, Spanish and French, that are commonly taught in the United
States makes the challenge less daunting. 
n	Students from Mexico and Canada must be encouraged to study in
the United States. At present, well over half of the foreign students
in the United States are from Asia, and only a small number are from
Canada and MexicoQgiven the importance of our NAFTA neighbors, more
students from North America should be encouraged to study in U.S.
academic institutions.
n	Informal ties among scholars in the three countries should be
encouraged. Conferences in the various academic disciplines, increased
stress on continent-wide databases and similar initiatives can
encourage these contacts.
n	Mexican and Canadian studies must be given a more prominent
place in the U.S. academic curriculum. The establishment of centers,
the provision of funds for research on these countries, and other
initiatives can help. It is especially important for students in
professional schools to be included.
n	Instruction in the languages of North AmericaQespecially
Spanish, but French to some extentQneed to be given more emphasis.
Indeed, an argument can be made that virtually all U.S. students
should be fluent in SpanishQgiven the importance of Mexican-U.S.
relations as well as the growing Spanish-speaking minority in the
United States.
	NAFTA will have inevitable implications not only for economic
relations but also for education and culture. Now is the time to begin
to think through how to build ties, improve the knowledge base and
ensure that all of the nations of North America have the personnel
necessary to operate in a regional economic environment. All of this
must be done with an understanding of the inequalities among the three
countries with a commitment to reduce these inequalities as much as
possible. NAFTA may finally convince all of the inhabitants of this
continent that there are common interests, problems and possibilities.
For higher education, the time is now to begin the process of
cooperation.
___________________
Philip G. Altbach is professor and director of the Comparative
Education Center, State University of New York at Buffalo.