Building Transnational Research and Learning Cultures -- Diana Brydon
Channel: centregcs
Date: 2013-01-21

McMaster Seminar Jan 10 2013 Universities globally are developing internationalization initiatives yet there is little consensus as to how internationalization might best be achieved or why it matters. While there is some talk of teaching global citizenship and advancing the 'diplomacy of knowledge,' most of the arguments for internationalization stress the need to compete in a global marketplace and the potential economic benefits. Yet there are other models for thinking about internationalization in twenty-first century contexts, which start with a different set of problems to be addressed and questions we need to ask. These models ask how universities can help their stakeholders engage ethically with the world. They are based on the belief that universities have a role to play in meeting the challenges posed by a changing world order, but to play that role effectively, universities themselves will need to change. In this paper, I will ask how those of us working in higher education might fulfill our traditional roles of knowledge preservation, transmission, and creation in ways that can help our communities (local, national, and global) negotiate the complexities of our fast moving and deeply entangled world. This talk builds on my experience working with feminist and postcolonial models of transnational research and learning cultures within international, interdisciplinary team projects examining "Globalization and Autonomy" "Building Global Democracy," and the "Brazil/Canada Knowledge Exchange: Developing Transnational Literacy." The full paper my be read at this link pdf http://myuminfo.umanitoba.ca/Documents/5020/BrydonTransnationalResearch.pdf