Following Adam Smith’s footsteps: college students journey to Scotland to find out about financial freedom | FIU Information

Earlier this summer time, 5 college students packed their baggage and headed to Scotland for the journey of a lifetime. The college students joined FIU’s Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom on a journey to the birthplace of Adam Smith, the pioneering economist and thinker who is usually thought of the daddy of economics.

The journey marked the 250th anniversary of Smith’s landmark work, The Wealth of Nations. It additionally allowed the scholars to witness as FIU solid a brand new educational partnership with Heriot-Watt University in the identical constructing that Smith as soon as referred to as dwelling.

“The Adam Smith Center was founded on the very principles Adam Smith gave the world 250 years ago,” mentioned Carlos Díaz-Rosillo, founding director of the Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom. “To stand with our students in the place where those ideas were first articulated, where the principles of economic freedom took shape, is to see that legacy come full circle. I am confident our students will carry that legacy forward.”

The journey gave college students an in depth take a look at Scotland’s political establishments and historical past, and on the enduring attain of Smith’s concepts in economics and public coverage. Their first cease was the Scottish Parliament, the place college students toured the chamber the place Members of the Scottish Parliament debate, ask questions and make selections. For many, it was a primary take a look at how one other nation’s authorities works up shut.

“I was surprised to learn the United Kingdom has no single written constitution, but it ultimately made me appreciate the protections our own Constitution and Bill of Rights guarantee,” mentioned Sebastian Priante, a enterprise administration in finance main.

The college students additionally visited the Palace of Holyroodhouse, King Charles III’s official residence in Edinburgh. Students explored the palace’s historical past and discovered about figures central to Scotland’s previous, together with Mary, Queen of Scots.

“It’s one thing to read about history in a textbook; it’s another to be walking through and become enveloped by years of preserved history,” mentioned Veronica De Moya, a enterprise and authorities management main. “This was an extraordinary experience to learn about Scotland and the overall United Kingdom’s history from their own royal perspective.”

During the journey, FIU and Heriot-Watt University signed a Letter of Friendship at Panmure House, Smith’s dwelling from 1778 till 1790. This letter affirms the connection between the 2 establishments, united by a shared perception in educational rigor and in Smith’s mental legacy. The settlement units a framework for cooperation within the research of free markets, ethical philosophy and political economic system, whereas constructing on the longstanding ties between Florida and Scotland that return by the centuries to when Scottish immigrants first got here to the area. 

FIU President Jeanette M. Nuñez and Carlos Díaz-Rosillo, founding director of the Adam Smith Center, signed on behalf of FIU, joined by Heriot-Watt’s Deputy Principal for Research and Impact Chris Turney and University Secretary Ruth Moir. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis presided over the signing.

“This partnership is just the beginning of what promises to be a lasting commitment to pursuing and promoting the ideas Adam Smith left behind,” mentioned President Jeanette M. Nuñez. “Together, our two universities will deepen our shared pursuit of innovation, scholarship and academic excellence, and I look forward to all that lies ahead for FIU and Heriot-Watt.”

Alyssa Mederos, FIU’s pupil physique president, was amongst these representing the college on the ceremony. “Serving as FIU’s student body president has given me the privilege of representing our students in many meaningful ways, but representing our university in Scotland was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” mentioned Mederos, a political science main. “I left with an even greater appreciation for the opportunities FIU provides and the responsibility of representing our student body wherever those opportunities take us.”

The setting carried its personal significance. Panmure House was central to Smith’s later life. While dwelling there, he produced 4 extra editions of The Wealth of Nations and two extra of his first main work, The Theory of Moral Sentiments. That the partnership was signed in the identical rooms the place he wrote his works gave the settlement added weight — a shared dedication, as each universities framed it, to educational excellence, innovation and world engagement.

“Witnessing the signing of this academic partnership made me proud to represent FIU, not only in Scotland but wherever my career takes me after graduation,” mentioned Natalie Nuñez, a enterprise and authorities management main. “It showed me how education can bring people and institutions together, and as a student at the Adam Smith Center, I see firsthand the impact these collaborations are making.”

Students additionally traveled to Glasgow to view Smith’s work on the University of Glasgow archives, the place that they had the uncommon probability to see two unique copies of The Wealth of Nations and a handwritten letter Smith despatched his mom. 

“The trip allowed us to follow Adam Smith’s life and work from Edinburgh to Glasgow,” mentioned Brad Malick-Beltran, a mechanical engineering main. “We visited the place he lived, studied, taught and wrote, and noticed unique editions of The Wealth of Nations. I returned to FIU with a deeper appreciation for the way Smith related financial freedom, ethical philosophy and the establishments of a free society. His concepts stay alive in how we take into consideration economics, authorities and society as we speak.”