Introduction to the Critical Internationalization Studies Masterclass
Channel: Critical Internationalization Studies Network
Date: 14/02/2022

This masterclass on critical internationalization studies is part of a research project, led by Dr. Sharon Stein, funded by the Spencer Foundation, entitled “Internationalization for an Uncertain Future: Setting the Agenda for Critical Internationalization Studies.” The project, which was co-produced by Dr. Santiago Castiello-Gutiérrez and Dr. Jhuliane Evelyn da Silva, weaves together a range of critical and decolonial perspectives, all of which seek (in their own ways) to identify, challenge, and ultimately interrupt the ways that mainstream approaches to the study and practice of internationalization have contributed to the reproduction of systemic harm in education and beyond. Following the orientation of the main project, this series of videos also invites viewers to “reimagin[e] internationalization in the service of addressing shared global challenges in more equitable, sustainable, and ethical ways” (Stein, 2019, p. 1).

To make this invitation, we have curated an open-access online library of video lectures from educators across the globe that address different dimensions of international education. In this imperfect and limited way, we have sought to integrate multiple knowledge systems, ontoepistemologies, and cosmologies into this project while remaining attentive to the complexities involved in challenging the geo-body-politics of knowledge production, translation, and transmission. 

The videos are organized into two parts. The first part is made up of lectures that examine the need and also the attempts that have been made to decolonize internationalization in higher education. Dr. Elizabeth Sumida Huaman, Dr. Juliana Zeggio Martinez and Dr. Roxana Chiappa, Dr. Riyad Shahjahan, Dr. Lynn Mario Menezes de Souza, Dr. Upenyu Majee, Dr. Jenny Lee, and Dr. Adriana Díaz are the scholars invited to share their practices and thoughts on the theme. They bring to the fore questions such as the constitutive coloniality in international endeavors both in the Global North and in the Global South and how, positioned and situated in their own contexts, they have been facing these challenges and acting towards different futures. 

The second part of this masterclass delves into varied themes related to Internationalization of higher education and highlights some pressing issues in the area. In order to contribute to these themes, Dr. Fazal Rizvi, Dr. Gerardo Blanco, Dr. Alma Maldonado-Maldonado, Dr. Ka Ho Mok, Dr. Christina Yao and Dr. Chrystal George Mwangi, Dr. Zeina Al Azmeh, Dr. Karen Pashby, and Dr. Hans de Wit were invited. In their unique ways, these educators enrich the discussion by highlighting the market-dimension of international education, the affective and political dimension of international scholars, the role of languages, reflexivity and the search for cognitive justice in IHE, the circularities and potentialities involved in different orientations to global citizenship education, and the global trends in IHE.

Although it is paradoxical, given that we have called this a “masterclass”, this course is an attempt to challenge the assumption that the purpose of education (international or otherwise) should be mastery of specific content, ideas, or answers. Instead, we invite you to consider how we, as students, scholars, and practitioners of internationalization, can engage more deeply with the pressing social, political, economic, relational, and ecological questions of our time. And further, to consider how we can deepen our accountabilities in relation to our complicity in systemic harm, as well as our accountabilities to historically and systemically marginalized peoples and knowledges.

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This masterclass is completely free. However, if you appreciate this resource and have the means to give back, then we encourage you to contribute to an emergency fund that will go toward supporting some of the many Indigenous communities featured in the second series of videos. These communities take a very different approach to international education than many of us are used to, and in doing so they raise questions that are extremely important for the sake of everybody’s future. You can also join and support the Last Warning campaign, of which many Indigenous communities featured in the second series of videos are a part. This campaign seeks to educate people about the importance of centering Indigenous peoples’ rights in the struggle for climate justice. This campaign takes a very different approach to international education than many of us are used to, but it raises questions that are extremely important for the sake of everybody’s future. 

Emergency Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/south-amer... 
Last Warning Campaign: https://lastwarning.org/ 
Critical Internationalization Studies Network: https://criticalinternationalization.... 

Music by JayJen
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