As we begin a new academic year, international human rights and humanitarian studies continue to grow in their significance in Webster’s College of Arts & Science worldwide.

Our groundbreaking Global MA program in International Relations, in which three cohorts of 12 students spend one term at each of five Webster international campuses in the course of earning their MA, now enters its fourth highly successful year, with more than half of its 36 students aiming to go on to careers in human rights or humanitarian work.

Our unique undergraduate BA in International Human Rights, conceived and guided by Webster’s excellent Philosophy Department, is one of the university’s fastest-growing programs.

Our second Summer Human Rights Institute, aimed at gifted St. Louis-area high school students, has recently been completed amidst strong testimonials from the dozen students (some of whom, we’re pleased to say, now think they’ll apply to Webster).

A group of faculty is planning a new and innovative human rights and humanitarian studies center that will extend across all of our campuses, will consolidate and raise the profile of our many related activities, and, we are confident, will be a magnet for funding.

And, most significant, we have unveiled another HYPERLINK "" international human rights theme year, focusing this time on the right to food and water. That’s article 25 of the 30 articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (meaning that we’ve got our programming set for the next 29 years!) All freshmen on all Webster campuses are reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and many speakers, films, and other activities are planned for the coming months.

There is much evidence of this emphasis in the current issue of Global Thinking. We feature Rashida Manjoo, who came here from Harvard, completed a sparkling stint as our Des Lee Visiting Professor of Global Awareness, and has now gone on to take up the prestigious United Nations post of Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. You will also read about Leiden alumna Erica Pasini, whose startling academic work led directly to special recognition by the government of Italy. And we cap it off with a story about a passionate Argentine alum, Marcela Grad, who has written an unforgettable and, for some, transformative book, published by our own university press, about the transcendent Afghan leader, Massoud, who was killed by Al Queda two days before September 11. Read the story. Read the book. See the movie.

But A&S is about far more than human rights. We span the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. In almost every area we are experiencing growth and cultivating excellence—with many wonderful stories that remain untold because we cannot produce enough issues of Global Thinking. You will, however, find in these pages thumbnail sketches of three scientists who have just retired and are already missed. This means, of course, that we have three new faculty members in their places. There are six others new faculty faces as well, meaning that about 15 percent of the full-time St. Louis faculty members are new this year! You will be reading about all of them—scattered from psychology to international relations to religious studies—in future Global Thinking issues as the year unfolds.

The biggest story of all is the arrival of our new president, Dr. Beth Stroble. She has been warmly embraced by the Webster community, and we have high hopes for more great things in A&S with her at the university’s helm.

David Carl Wilson