The U.S. Graduate Training in Agricultural Economics: The Perspective of a Former Foreign Student
作者以外国学生视角，讨论美国农业经济学研究生培养的总体特点，并特别关注来自欠发达国家学生的需求，认为关注其特殊需求可提升培训效果。
It is a pleasure to be able to speak on this section celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Economics Institute. Students who have participated in this program speak highly of the outstanding academic activities they attended, as well as of the extremely comfortable environment provided by the Institute. I was not fortunate enough to pass through the Institute when I first came to the United States. Nonetheless, I certainly join those wishing a very long life to the Economics Institute and hope it will continue performing this important role of helping foreign students to get adjusted to American universities and to the American way of life. I will be talking today about my perspectives on U.S. graduate training in agricultural economics. This, of course, is not an easy task. There are a large number of programs, and they differ among each other in various ways. It is not my purpose to examine these differences here. Instead, I would like to address some general aspects of U.S. graduate training on the assumption that this will be of interest to a general audience of agricultural economics professionals. Even though I do not believe that a separate curriculum should be adopted for foreign students, I will, on occasion, focus on issues that are more relevant to this group, especially those coming from LDCs. Sensitivity to some of their specific needs may enhance the effectiveness of their training; and, in view of this, will be discussed as we proceed. My remarks will focus on areas directly related to academic curricula and research.