International Association of Universities’ Post

South Africa and the Netherlands look great together! Especially when we speak about the obvious. Today we had such an amazing exchange between over 110 participants during the online policy dialogue on Curriculum Design & Decolonisation. We dived into the current discourse in South Africa and the Netherlands. We took an extra deepdive in theory and terminology. We explored what has (not) been done to align TVET within the broader approach. We learned about the RhodesMustFallMovement and how imbalanced power dynamics impact individual and community experiences. We learned how virtual exchanges between students in different countries challenges our expectations on how students in the Global North and Global South perceive each other. We learned how decolonisation is practiced in science, for example in the way how assessment procedures for collaborative research have been transformed. We listened to students and their needs for decolonised education systems. "Do we know who we are? Or are we taught who we are?" During the panel discussions, we learned how Europeanisation has shaped many education systems around the globe; how Africanisation tries to retake space for African identity and approaches and how the European approach is opening up for a wider scope on the world. The policy dialogue ended with a reflection from UNESCO with a wider scope on the topic of curriculum design and decolonisation and how to connect the national and bilateral exchange with a wider worldwide transformation process. Main question that remains: what little steps can we take every day to practice what we preach? #GrowingTogether the #SANEDcommunity #CoCreateSANL Thank you speakers from: Netherlands Embassy and Consulate in South Africa Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) Department of Science and Innovation NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) The National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF) IEASA StudySA De Haagse Hogeschool / The Hague University of Applied Sciences Nelson Mandela University Rhodes University Hogeschool van Amsterdam Tilburg University Official_Tshwane University of Technology Nuffic University of the Free State University of Johannesburg Universiteit Leiden Credits picture: vecteezy.com

The 3is project (Impactful, Inclusive, Integrated Higher Education in Eastern Africa) has taken its first steps! Funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union, the project kicked off with a meeting at Kenyatta University on March 7th and 8th, 2024. Eleven partners from Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Spain, and Greece, including esteemed universities and organizations, have united to drive the 3is project forward. The project's primary goal is to strengthen Higher Education, particularly in less developed and remote areas of Somalia 🇸🇴, Ethiopia 🇪🇹, and Kenya 🇰🇪. It focuses on capacity building, enabling African universities to develop policy instruments and action plans. The targeted areas include internationalization, inclusiveness, educational innovations, academic excellence, community and industry outreach, and regional integration. The kick-off meeting marked the beginning of a transformative journey that holds the promise of fostering progress and collaboration. Stay tuned for updates on our commitment to fostering change and advancement in Eastern Africa's higher education landscape. #3isProject #HigherEducation #InclusiveEducation #RegionalIntegration #Internationalization #ErasmusPlus #EasternAfrica #EUAU #EUAfrica #AfricaEurope Youthmakers Hub Kenyatta University University of Hargeisa University of Gondar Universitat de Girona University of Hargeisa Panteion University Debark University/ደባርቅ ዩኒቨርሲቲ(Official) Puntland State Univesity

📢 Introducing speakers of the #BreakoutSession IIb at the #IAUTokyo2024 Conference! The IAU 2024 International Conference, taking place this November at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan, includes seven breakout sessions on various topics of interest to the higher education community. This session will consider "Leading Values-based International Cooperation." We at the IAU look forward to hearing from the four distinguished speakers on this panel: - Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis, Director of the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa - Nopraenue Sajjarax Dhirathiti, Vice President for International Relations and Corporate Communication, Mahidol University, Thailand - Sandra den Otter, Vice Provost Global Engagement, Queen's University, Canada - Jane Knight, Professor, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada About the Session: The IAU advocates for fair and inclusive internationalization that encompasses and values the diverse voices of nations, peoples, and cultures worldwide. An internationalization that fosters an equitable global community and serves the common global good through circulation of knowledge and supports societal development. However, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) often find themselves having to navigate political and economic pressures that might be in contrast with this vision of internationalization. How can HEIs take on a leadership role in advancing values-based international cooperation when they are bound by ever more restrictive rules and regulations imposed by their respective governments? Learn more about the conference programme and speakers here: www.iautokyo2024.net #university #universities #highereducation #HigherEd #UniversityValues #Values #internationalization #internationalcooperation

Do you ever feel conflicted? The Role Paradox in internationalisation is real! These were issues I discussed in a recent session at IEASA StudySA. A commitment to internationalised higher education, mobility, quality education for all, education access, inclusion and sustainability cannot be complete until we end Apartheid in all its forms and recognise that as South African universities and practitioners, our history means that we cannot respond in the same way to the war on Gaza and Palestine as countries that do not share a similar history of Apartheid, Colonialism or Genocide. We have definitions for decolonised international higher education, research and innovation but what does this mean in practice? Do we have examples of decolonised internationalisation strategies? How do we operate ethically and advance values- driven internationalisation in contexts where we operate within the soft power influence of multiple agencies and diplomatic influences? In the discussion I also presented findings from a desktop review of university responses and some recommendations. See article attached from UWN.

I do recommend to those who is interested in current debates on comparative higher education to read the latest issue of International Higher Education! (with my short piece included as well) In this issue - Editorial confronts the peer review crisis, examining the current challenges due to the massification of knowledge production. It explores ways to improve the process, including providing incentives, enhancing transparency, and expanding the pool of reviewers. This issue analyzes how geopolitics reshapes student mobility, from the UK's "hostile environment" policies to East Asian power dynamics between South Korea, China, and Japan. Learn about surprising trends in doctoral mobility in France, postdoc experiences in Germany, and the uneven post-pandemic recovery of scholar mobility to the United States. It unpacks trends in transnational education: how Uzbekistan has become the world's third-largest host of international branch campuses and why institutions still seek to establish branch campuses in Dubai's saturated market. It also examines how US campuses navigate tensions between isolationist tendencies and continued expansion, as well as possible futures for transnational cooperation among European universities. Several articles also explore higher education systems in political upheaval: Argentina under President Milei's new leadership, the emergence of "universities in exile" countering authoritarian regimes in countries like Afghanistan and Myanmar, and Russia's regression toward Soviet-style education practices during wartime. TO READ the issue: https://lnkd.in/dCHk8nPz Rebecca Schendel Gerardo Blanco Philip Altbach Hans (J.W.M.) de Wit #cihe #universities

Beyond Natural Resources: A Strategic Path to Africa's Future: In his book "From Third World to First: The Singapore Story", Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, made a startling revelation about the US which I think still holds true. He argued that the unparalleled ability of the US to tap into the best minds across the world is one of its strongholds as a superpower. Sometimes there is the misconception that some nations are intellectually endowed more than others due to innovations attributed to them. However, I believe intelligence is evenly distributed across nature. Some nations are simply more deliberate in developing the best bestowed on them by nature. A nation is POTENTIALLY as great as endowed in Nature, but ACTUALLY as NURTURED by its People As I’ve mentioned before, Until we Africans are deliberate in scouting for talents, we are going nowhere. We must as a matter of urgency devise a strategy to identify these talents across the continent and provide the resources necessary to help them reach their full potential. Why can't we establish a continental University for Science, Innovation, and Technology to serve this purpose? Just as the US has MIT and the UK has Imperial College, Africa needs an institution dedicated to harnessing the brilliance of our best minds. Our ultimate resource is not our gold or cocoa, but the geniuses among us. No, nation/continent has ever risen to the pinacle of global relevance without a deliberate development of its own talents. I even think not only do we have to be deliberate in developing Africa own talent, but we should be working on building institutions and condusive atmosphere that attract the best that the world has to offer. I do not think the numerous scholarships that the US offers to the best of the world for the last half of this century or so is due to the fact that the US is the most generous country on the planet, rarher I believe there are other additional strategic factors that informes its decision to do so considering the fact that not all American Students are on such scholarships. I believe it is about time we took a critical look at what nations who have ascended to positions of global relevance have done and currently doing in order to see whether there are some important strategic pieces worthy of emulation. IT IS NOT THE WORLD WE NEED TO CONCUR BUT OUR OWN MINDS.

Armenia's #Oxford Graduates Business Club: A new platform for knowledge and experience exchange, new opportunities for the country's development ⬇️ 🟦 The Business Club of Oxford Graduates in Armenia has been established, with members holding leadership positions in various fields, from finance, telecommunications, and consulting to data science and international relations. 📍 The club's founding is an important step towards consolidating professional potential and fostering positive changes in the country. 📈 🟦 Collaborative ties among members and cooperation with international networks will lead to the exchange of innovative ideas and best practices, creating favorable conditions for the development and growth of enterprises in various sectors of the economy. ✔️ Through the joint efforts of the club members, various projects aimed at advancing Armenia's economy and society will be implemented in the near future. https://lnkd.in/eN58irC7

The South African based project on African Partnerships Universities Alliance (#APUA) found its space at the 14th ANIE in Accra, Ghana, towards Reclaiming African Scholarship My recent engagements about the Discourses of Quality (#WorldQualityDay) have evoked the wonderful memories as part of my research journey especially post July 2021. During the 14th African Network for Internationalization of Education (#ANIE) 2024 in Accra, Ghana, I was honored to be amongst the community of scholars for internationalisation of higher education, or the global engagements and partnerships. Prior to the event, the Project Management of the African Partnerships Universities Alliance (#APUA) requested a think piece on the topic, "Reclaiming the African voice and agency: Navigating Equity in the North-South Engagements". The Implications of the topic was the need to deepen the debates and also expand the conversations in ways that the Global South, and let alone the still diverse university education sector in South Africa (the 3 category HETs, according to Cooper, 2019), can identify its voice in scholarship advancement. in the ANIE Article, "Reclaiming the African Voice and Agency: Navigating Equity in the North-South Engagements" (still downloading in Google docs), I raised more questions than answers about what can be the complexity of power relations in politics of knowledge and of being! The main issues as surfaced on the article are also alluded to in five presentations some of which have been shared on this platform and elsewhere, a) Deconstructing Internationalization in Contexts of Structural and Historical Disadvantage, a KeyNote Address at the Internationalization Week, September 2022, University of Zululand, b) Internationalization of Higher Education, the panacea for the common and public good? A Concept Paper. A paper presented at the 2nd Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinary Conference, Walter Sisulu University, 17th to 19th April 2024, c) Internationalization of Higher Education: Engaging the challenges of Conflation and Reification in the Academic Project. A paper presented at the 2nd Multi-, Inter- and Transdisciplinary Conference, Walter Sisulu University, 17th to 19th April 2024. d) From the Periphery to the Centre, engaging the dialectics of Internationalization as the challenge of power dynamics in knowledge generation, a Paper presented at the 26th Internationalization of Education Association of South Africa (IEASA 2024), 20-23rd August 2024, e) RREEEIS Modelling: The Institutional Value Chain and Sustainable Value Creation, the Morphogenesis of Agency (shared during the World Quality Day as recently hosted by WSU, 14-15th November 2024). #ASFI, #HELTASA, #IEASA, #SANORD, #ANIE https://lnkd.in/d6J8CT2y usp=sharing&ouid=101342912674051988397&rtpof=true&sd=true

Please check out my chapter, "The Kaleidoscope of Connections"!

In the world of international problem-solving, where smart people come together to fix big global problems, a group of seven students from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) did something amazing. They won the Best Small Delegation award for the second year in a row at the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) competition. This is a big deal and it's really inspiring for young people in Pakistan. HNMUN is known as the oldest and most important Model UN conference in the world. Every year, it brings together 1500-1800 students from top universities worldwide, as well as teams from different countries like the West Indies and Peru. It's a tough competition where students discuss a wide range of global issues, from Artificial Intelligence to Climate Change. Teams from prestigious schools like Princeton, Stanford, and Yale compete against each other. In the world of big universities, the LUMS team stood out as winners and brought hope to Pakistani youth worldwide. Despite facing challenges and breaking stereotypes, they became the first team from outside America or Europe to win the Best Small Delegation award two years in a row. This achievement shows not only the team's smartness but also their determination and teamwork, which are values of their university. Their journey to victory was tough, from dealing with jet lag to language barriers. Representing Pakistan, a diverse country with many opportunities, they showed a great understanding of global issues and handled diplomacy skillfully. Their ability to speak well, negotiate, and defend Pakistan's views impressed everyone. This win is not just for LUMS or Pakistan; it's a win for all of Asia. By beating Western universities in a tough competition, LUMS has made history and shown that Asian universities can compete at the highest level. This victory motivates other young people across Asia to aim high. #NewsAlert