In this article, the author discusses why he is not preparing his students to compete in the global marketplace. For all the talk of "globalization" as the very engine of their generation's future prospects, his students seemed far more concerned about disappearing jobs at home, rising global temperatures, and a general anxiety about what it all meant. The world did not seem as inviting as it seemed fragmented, even fragile, especially when the conversation turned to the environment, and to the resilience of their own local communities. Environmental degradation wasn't a problem only in foreign countries, after all. Clearly, it wasn't just the "global marketplace" that was suffering. It was also the "local marketplace." And if many college students feel powerless to intervene in climate change or the destruction of the Amazonian rain forest or the displacement of indigenous people, it turns out they don't feel powerless when it comes to nurturing their own communities. There are ecological projects to be conducted, sociological studies to be done, and journalistic inquiries to be made into every corner of the region. All of these endeavors, done properly, stand not only to illuminate areas that are typically obscured from student view but also to offer intellectual resources to communities outside the university that do not typically enjoy them. The potential for both student work and community engagement is very high. The author contends that a thoughtfully done local project could even serve as a model for something whose scope is far broader--even global.