Learning Beyond the Walls

by Christopher Queen

Christopher S. Queen

In The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Friedman describes the collapse of walls—economic, cultural, and political—that followed the fall of the Berlin wall and the rise of the Internet 15 years ago. The end of the cold war opened the world to wider alliances and travel, while information technology made it possible for millions to communicate instantly via e-mail and the Web without leaving home.

For nearly a century the Harvard Extension School has helped to shape the world that Friedman describes. Founded in 1909 to overcome barriers to higher learning for the people of Boston, the Harvard Extension School pioneered in the application of technology. By the 1950s, Extension faculty were broadcasting courses on WGBH television and designing training programs for US Navy submarine crews. Today students from 112 countries enroll in nearly 600 courses, including 75 online courses. They have the option of earning graduate certificates in applied sciences and environmental management without ever visiting Cambridge.

The emergence of new fields of knowledge and related career paths—another feature of the flat world—is also reflected in the Extension School’s 66 subject areas. A sampling of courses taught only online includes American Protest Literature from Tom Paine to Tupac; China: Traditions and Transformations; Justice; and Medical Detectives.
No one deserves more credit for the Extension School’s preeminence in the flat world of twenty-first-century higher education than Michael Shinagel. Since 1975 Dean Shinagel has guided the growth of the Harvard Extension School—a doubling of students and a quadrupling of courses—and has overseen the launch of nearly every program offered today: associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in liberal arts; master’s degrees in 26 fields and graduate certificates in applied sciences, management, and publishing and communications.

We are proud once again to offer the Harvard Extension School Alumni Bulletin as a record of the many worlds—round, flat, or otherwise—occupied by our talented students, faculty, staff, and graduates. It is our hope that in reading of their achievements, you will consider taking a course with us, pursuing a degree or certificate, or contributing to the alumni association’s Dean Shinagel Thirtieth Anniversary Appeal, the proceeds of which support the Shinagel Scholarship Fund. (Please contact me at 617-495-3481 or visit the HEAA website if you wish to make a gift.)

We thank all those listed in the Bulletin who have already given generously, and we encourage you to join them in the weeks to come.
Special thanks are deserved by our managing editor Leslie Busler, alumni coordinator and editorial assistant Ann Wright, staff photographer Jeffry Pike, designer Bob Sweeney, our feature writers, and our other able colleagues in Communications and Marketing. As winners of the bronze medal from the University Continuing Education Association for last year’s issue of the Bulletin, they have earned national recognition for presenting the worlds of Harvard Extension School with intelligence and flair.