The Asian journal, Monsoon, hosted a forum entitled "Globalization and its costs in Asia" in conjunction with the International and Global Studies Program (IGS), The Consilience Program and the Schiff Fellowship Group of Professors N. Menon and B. Ngan on Wednesday.The event featured a panel of five professors, including Gary Jefferson (ECON), Serkan Bahceci (ECON), Seyom Brown (POL), Sarah Lamb (ANTH) and Richard Lyman (East Asian studies). Each speaker was given 15 minutes to present the issue of globalization in Asia according to his or her specialization, after which each addressed questions from the audience.

According to Editor in Chief of Monsoon and coordinator for the event Benjamin Ngan '05, the goal of the event was to spread awareness to not only students, but to all members of the Brandeis community about globalization, because many do not know about how it has affected those abroad.

"The goal of our event is to gather members of the Brandeis community," Ngan said. "We also wanted a diversity of speakers, so that is why we had five professors from different departments."

Elliot Veloso '04, Monsoon's senior editor of Global Issues and the moderator of the event, agreed with Ngan, adding that he was particularly surprised by the scope of opinions on the issue.

"We wanted to promote a forum where professors and students can discuss the various cultural, economic and social issues involved in this subject," Veloso said. "What struck me was how divergent the opinions were regarding the issue of globalization. Many people either supported or opposed it, and these views promoted spirited discussion especially during the question and answer period."

According to Veloso, the diversity in faculty represented a wide range of perspectives on the issue.

The talk began with Prof. Jefferson, who stressed that inequality, both in terms of costs and benefits and labor standards, is one feature of globalization in which people must focus upon when discussing the issue.

"Some issues that regard costs for China may constitute benefits for other countries," Jefferson said. "Something that is a cost for Japan is something else for another country. In addition to this inequality, there is also the challenge China faces in relation to U.S. supremacy."

Bahceci agreed with Jefferson that things that people in Asia may see as negative may, in fact, be positive for the global economy.

Taking a somewhat opposing approach was Lamb, who raised the issue of families in India who suffer directly because of the effects of globalization.

More specifically, according to Lamb, the concept of a nursing home is unnatural to Asian families, who are used to living very intimately.

According to her, children would live with their parents and grandparents until their deaths, but with the infiltration of globalization, children run off to work and school, and grandparents are sent away.

Lamb also spoke of Western children as compared to Asian children in their contrasting upbringings.

In the West, Asian parents and grandparents are disconcerted by the unavailability and independence of the youth. In the East, however, children would always be around their families.

According to Ngan, the event was successful because of the dialogue it sparked, and because of the good advertising they did for Monsoon.

"I think I am satisfied with how the event went in terms of fulfilling our expected goals," Ngan said. "The audience was surrounding our speakers and engaging them into positive and provocative dialogue. I also know that quite a number of our audience have not heard of Monsoon prior to the event, but they do now."

Veloso agreed with Ngan, adding that not only was the general response positive, but the very diverse dialogue was indicative of success.

"The hope was that students and faculty could promote spirited discussion regarding globalization, and I feel that it was successful," Veloso said. "The general response from the participants has been positive.