Student Profile: Culture, Capital ‘C’

Paola Allais '08
Joint degree candidate, Yale School of Drama
Student Body Representative, Yale SOM Student Government
Strategy Intern, Associated Press

I have always had a broad interest in culture with a capital "C." Culture, to me, encompasses the arts, media, intercultural interactions, national and international communications; or, in other words, all those aspects of society which define a people, a history.

I started at Yale as a student in the Theater Management program at the School of Drama. Two years into the program, I decided to seek a joint degree with the School of Management and broaden my knowledge of the arts to other fields. In particular, I was interested in learning how business works in the for-profit world. SOM was the perfect choice because it offered that knowledge both academically and experientially. In fact, I have learned a lot from being in class with students who have completely different experiences, from investment banking to food relief agencies.

What I hope to achieve with this multi-disciplinary education is to move the art world and the non-art world away from the notion these two sectors are intrinsically separated. I strongly believe that these worlds are not only constantly in communication with one another but that they also depend on one another greatly. I am hopeful that these studies will help me develop a vocabulary across sectors and build what Professor Nalebuff would call a “larger pie.”

Naturally, this is not a new idea. The best example of it in my view resides in the founding charter of the UNESCO — the culture and education branch of the UN. The UNESCO was formed right after the Second World War in 1947, and was based on the belief that if wars start in people's minds, then one must encourage people to exchange ideas in order to stop wars. It is this mission that I want to foster through Culture as it lives both on an international and political level and at an individual level.

I think my interest comes from the fact that — to use my advisor’s expression — I'm a “quintessential product of multiculturalism.” I am Italian, I am French, I have studied in Europe and in the States, and I love a good Bach suite as much as I enjoy reading the WSJ. It is this background that has led me to want to connect seemingly differing worlds together. And that's where my commitment is, to Culture.

Interviewed on May 3, 2007.