International Association of Universities

IAU, working in partnership with the British Council’s Going Global Steering Committee, is coordinating the debate on internationalization that forms a central part of this Going Global 2012 (GG2012) (13-15 March, 2012, London, UK).

Chairing a Plenary session entitled: ‘Internationalization of higher education: who benefits who is at risk?’ on March 14, the IAU Secretary General will coordinate the deliberations of six Working Groups which will each address a set of questions on various aspects of internationalization such as:

• the concept itself;
• what is driving internationalization;
• the role of student mobility in the internationalization efforts;
• the extent to which internationalization is conducted in ways that are mindful of higher education’s global responsibility;
• whether and how the process has acted as a catalyst for wider reforms at institutional and systemic levels;
• what may be some of the features of an internationalized university.

The Chairs of each these Working Groups will report back on the outcomes at the final substantive plenary of the conference on March 15. The Working Groups will meet twice during the conference and are expected to prepare practical responses to these challenges.

For IAU, this event offers a timely opportunity to showcase and further the deliberations of the Rethinking Internationalization Ad hoc Experts Group since many members of this Ad hoc Group will take part in the GG2012 and will contribute substantively to the process described above. All GG2012 participants will also have an opportunity to contribute in the debate, as guests at a Reception offered by the British Council on March 14. During this social gathering they will also be invited to offer their views on the six questions mentioned above.

Going Global is growing into an annual international event of some importance and this conference will be an important milestone in the work of the IAU on re-thinking internationalization.

For more information about the Re-thinking Internationalization series of events at GG2012 please visit their website. For the complete set of questions to be addressed by the Working Groups see here and also read a fuller description of the work of the international Ad hoc Group whose efforts are being coordinated by IAU too. The work will carry on even afterwards as IAU prepares for its 14th General Conference where the question ‘Is globalization setting a new agenda for internationalization of higher education?’ forms a central part of the programme. For more information: r.hudson@iau-aiu.net