Leading Internationalization

Abstract

American universities are facing a growing imperative to internationalize to prepare students to live and work in a globalized world, to enhance scholarship and discovery, and to foster economic links between their communities and the rest of the world. Comprehensive internationalization strategies include the integration of international content into the curriculum, increasing study abroad participation, recruiting and interacting with international students, and building strong and effective international partnerships and networks. Geography's traditions of regional study, fieldwork, and synthesis give us a historic opportunity to position ourselves as institutional leaders in defining internationalization. To do so, we need to build on the strong international foundation of our curriculum and its content and begin to embrace the breadth of international practices. By becoming central players in campus internationalization, we will be in a position to speak forcefully in support of a model of internationalization that is consistent with the missions and goals of higher education.Con urgencia impostergable, las universidades norteamericanas enfrentan hoy el imperativo de internacionalizarse, con el fin de preparar a sus estudiantes para vivir y trabajar en un mundo globalizado, acrecentar el saber y el descubrimiento, y para fortalecer los lazos económicos entre sus comunidades y el resto del mundo. Las estrategias internacionalizadoras de mayor alcance incluyen la incorporación de contenidos internacionales en el currículo, una participación cada vez mayor en estudios en el extranjero, atracción de estudiantes internacionales e interacción con los mismos, y la formación de asociaciones y redes internacionales fuertes y efectivas. A nosotros, en particular, las tradiciones de los estudios regionales, el trabajo de campo y la capacidad de síntesis de la geografía nos brindan una oportunidad histórica para posicionarnos como los líderes institucionales a cargo de definir la internacionalización. Para asumir tal papel, necesitamos construir un cimiento internacional robusto para nuestro currículo y su contenido, y empezar a tomar el amplio aliento de las prácticas internacionales. Al convertirnos en los jugadores centrales de la internacionalización del campus, estaremos en posición de hablar con propiedad para apoyar un modelo de internacionalización que sea consistente con las misiones y metas de la educación superior. Palabras clave: geografía, educación superior, educación internacional, internacionalización.

The Why and How of Fostering International Academic Exchange at Schools in Taiwan

“…The major goal of the internationalization of education, in general, is to nurture students with global competencies, by which they are able to succeed in a global market of international and multicultural settings (Pandit, 2009). Historically, international education was only available for the wealthy, but today it is more affordable as transportation and communication techniques have improved.…”

“…The internationalization of education is a process that integrates the international and intercultural concepts into the teaching, learning, researching, and service activities in the educational institutions at different age levels (Pandit, 2009). The major goal of the internationalization of education, in general, is to nurture students with global competencies, by which they are able to succeed in a global market of international and multicultural settings (Pandit, 2009).…”

Effective strategies in internationalization of higher education in the United States

“…For the United States, one of the major challenges in higher education in the 21 st century is to maintain a highly capable, intellectually, and culturally competent workforce in a fast changing world (Deardorff, 2004). Pandit (2009) argued that students were required to face the globalized world. Therefore, they should enhance their scholarship and innovation and be able to nurture economic bridges between communities and the world.…”

“…These students were recruited by major corporations upon graduation and helped bring about the high tech revolution of the 1990's (Saxenian, 1990as quoted in Pandit 2009). In addition to technological advancements at the turn of the millennium, September 11, 2001 (9/11) brought back the philosophy of international student recruitment as an imperative to build alliances with other countries and to prevent future attacks on America (Pandit, 2009). The restructuring of higher education in the past two decades has contributed to the making of American universities into an internationally traded commodity (Altbach, 2006;Harris, 2008;Slaughter & Roades, 2004).…”

“…In the late 1990s, the American Council on Education (ACE) published a series of reports on internationalization in American universities and supportive programs to bring about internationalization (ACE 1999(ACE , 2003. Almost simultaneously, leaders from 29 European countries signed a declaration that resulted in the Bologna Process, a consorted effort to improve the quality of European universities as a way to attract international students and researchers from around the world and perspective international employers for their graduates (Pandit, 2009). …”