MISSION STATEMENT

APC’s mission is to provide an intensive two-year graduate program in inter-cultural leadership, with shorter program options to accommodate students who are already working full-time. Participants will be drawn from throughout the Asia-Pacific region. By combining a conceptually demanding program with elements that promote practical application in this intercultural context, the program seeks to challenge participants’ own assumptions about inter-cultural understanding and leadership in an environment that promotes and rewards change. This will be done in the context of a certificate program in which students take no more than one course per semester over a one- or two-year period.

Our mission proceeds from the belief that by better understanding the history and cultures of other traditions, we can step out of our own narrow perspective of the world, and enter into a wider vision of the global community. Such a view, and the understanding of diversity which must accompany it, will be increasingly necessary in the 21st century as constantly improving communications and transportation networks bring even the most widely separated corners of the globe into closer contact. Already the demand has outstripped the supply of inspired leaders who possess the skills to negotiate in an increasingly interactive world community. People from every professional and academic field must develop the ability to work within the international community, which means developing the ability to accommodate difference and diversity. Cultural sensitivity, the ability to adapt to ever-changing situations and demands, a balanced view of the world and its political, economic, and cultural patterns, a willingness to experience the unfamiliar - all these will be extremely vital qualities in the well-rounded leaders of the future

Developing such leaders requires providing them opportunities for working and studying in international settings that bring together a wide mix of people from all over the world. Hawaii is just such a cultural crossroads, a meeting place for people and ideas, taking traditions of many different countries and providing delightful opportunities to experience first-hand cultural treasures from every corner of the world. Such a setting provides an ideal environment for exploring cross-cultural perspectives and gaining a better understanding of how people from diverse backgrounds can live together in harmony and prosperity.