Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

What We Talk About When We Talk About Internationalization

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Higher Education in the High North

Part of the book series: Higher Education Dynamics ((HEDY,volume 48))

Abstract

Internationalization is a contemporary buzzword in higher education. The values and benefits anticipated through internationalism in international academic exchange and student mobility is widely recognized and represented on regional, national, institutional and individual levels. Internationalization as a key signifier serves multiple meanings and functions: as symbol, criteria of quality, and as carrier of content, often reaching far beyond the field of higher education. Internationalization is taken for granted as a quality but what kind of quality does internationalization represent? The purpose of this chapter is to unpack the notion of internationalization through an analysis of interviews with administrators and coordinators working in the service of intercultural outreach in higher education in the Barents Euro-Arctic region. The analysis will move beyond simple assumptions about reality and transparency derived through interviews and will problematize the epistemic and ontological conditions of “what we talk about when we talk about” something. It will be explored how internationalization becomes a concept with multiple functions and meanings, serving needs and expectations at various institutional levels. The international coordinator in academic exchanges programs is precisely the person who professionally negotiate this multidimensional concept and it’s derivate to individual students, to institutions and its political constituency. Meaning and internationalization intersect at many semantic and practical levels. Internationalization is an instrument/metaphor (a means) for accomplishing something else. It is also a concept with multiple interpretations (meanings) and it is decisively important (meaningful) for the “missionaries” of internationalism of higher education institutions. The general purpose of the paper is to contribute with critical interpretations of a key concept in contemporary higher education discourse.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    The title of this chapter is a paraphrase on the short story by Raymond Carver (1981), “What We Talk about When We Talk about Love”, in the collection with the same title.

  2. 2.

    See “The Bologna Process and its Implications for Russia” (RECEP 2005, p. 19) (2010 it was decided that they had to implement the BA, MA, and PHD).

  3. 3.

    Since 2016 Nord University.

  4. 4.

    Now part of the Russian State Hydrometerological University.

  5. 5.

    In 2016 these numbers are 64 nationalities and 74 subjects of the Russian Federation plus seven foreign nationals.

References

  • Albright, P., & Knight, J. (2007). The internationalization of higher education: Motivations and realities. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3–4), 290–305.

    Google Scholar 

  • Briggs, C. (2007). Anthropology, interviewing and contemporary society. Current Anthropology, 48(4), 551–580.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cambridge, J., & Thompson, J. (2004). Internationalism and globalization as contexts for international education. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 34(2), 161–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carver, R. (1981). What we talk about when we talk about love. In R. Carver (Ed.), What we talk about when we talk about love (pp. 137–154). New York: Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Wit, H. (2010). Internationalisation of higher education in Europe and its assessment, trends and issues. Den Haag: NVAO Nederlands-Vlaamse Accrediatieorganisatie.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elenius, L. (Ed.). (2015). The Barents region. A transnational history of subarctic northern Europe. Oslo: Pax Forlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Parliament. (2015). Internationalisation of higher education. The Directorate-general for Internal Policies, policy department B structural and cohesion policies. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/540370/IPOL_STU(2015)540370_EN.pdf. Accessed 16 Apr 2016.

  • Frumina, E., & West, R. (2012). Internationalisation of Russian higher education: The English language dimension. Moscow: The British Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geuna, A. (1998). The internationalization of European universities: A return to medieval roots. Minerva, 36, 253–270.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gieryn, T. F. (1999). Cultural boundaries of science: Credibility on the line. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gornitzka, Å. (2006). What is the use of Bologna in national reform? The case of Norwegian quality reform in higher education. In V. Tomusk (Ed.), Creating the European area of higher education: Voices from the periphery (pp. 19–42). Dordrecht: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gu, Q., Schweisfurth, M., & Day, C. (2010). Learning and growing in a “foreign” context: Intercultural experiences of international students. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 40(1), 7–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guonko, T., & Smale, W. (2007). Modernization of Russian higher education: Exploring paths of influence. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 37(4), 533–548.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hantrais, L. (2008). International comparative research: Theory, methods and practice. Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschberg, D., & Petrov, A. N. (2014). Education and human capital. In J. Nymand Larsen & G. Fondahl (Eds.), Arctic human development report: Regional processes and global linkages (pp. 347–390). Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers, TemaNord. 567.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, M. S. (2008). Historical legacies of Soviet higher education and the transformation of higher education systems in post-Soviet Russia and Eurasia. In D. P. Baker & A. W. Wiseman (Eds.), The worldwide transformation of higher education (pp. 159–176). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, J. (2004). Internationalization remodeled: Definition, approaches, and rationales. Journal of Studies in International Education, 8(1), 5–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knight, J. (2015). Updating the definition of internationalization. International Higher Education, 33, 2–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuraev, A. (2014). Internationalization of higher education in Russia: Collapse or perpetuation of the Soviet system? A historical and conceptual study. Dissertation, Boston College, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ledeneva, A. (1998). Russia’s economy of favours: Blat, networking and informal exchange. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matthews, J., & Sidhu, R. (2005). Desperately seeking the global subject: International education, citizenship and cosmopolitanism. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 3(1), 49–66.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maximova-Mentzoni, T. (2013). The changing Russian university: From state to market. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mezirow, J. (Ed.). (2000). Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murphy-Lejeune, E. (2002). Student mobility and narrative in Europe: The new strangers. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • On Amendments to Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation regarding the Regulation of the Activities of Non-profit Organisations Performing the Functions of a Foreign Agent, law no. 102766–6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Otten, M. (2003). Intercultural learning and diversity in higher education. Journal of Studies in International Education, 7(1), 12–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parker, N., & Vaughan-Williams, N. (2012). Critical border studies: Broadening and deepening the “Lines in the Sand” agenda. Geopolitics, 17(4), 727–733.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlenko, A. (2003). “Language of the enemy”: Foreign language education and national identity. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 6(5), 313–329.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Popkewitz, T. S. (2012). Cosmopolitanism, making the nation and the citizen as a salvation theme of turn of the twentieth century pedagogy. In T. Tolonen, T. Palmu, S. Lappainen, & T. Kurki (Eds.), Cultural practices and transitions in education (pp. 41–58). London: The Tufnell Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanderson, G. (2008). A foundation for the internationalization of the academic self. Journal of Studies in International Education, 12(3), 276–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sergeev, A., & Ryzhkova, I. (2010). Specific features of internationalization of higher education in the framework of the Northern dimension. Kaliningrad: Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University Press. https://journals.kantiana.ru/eng/baltic_region/503/1276/. Accessed 16 Apr 2016.

  • Stier, J. (2004). Taking a critical stance toward internationalization ideologies in higher education: Idealism, instrumentalism and educationalism. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 2(1), 1–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stier, J. (2006). Internationalisation, intercultural communication and intercultural competence. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 11, 1–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stier, J. (2010). International education: Trends, ideologies and alternative pedagogical approaches. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(3), 339–349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stier, J., & Börjesson, M. (2010). The internationalised university as discourse: Institutional self-presentations, rhetoric and benchmarking in a global market. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 20(4), 335–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sundet, M. (2016). The ties that bind: The roles and mundane practices of networks in constructing educational internationalisation in the high North. In Globalizations, Societies and Education, 14(4) 513–527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trondal, J. (2010). Two worlds of change: On the internationalisation of universities. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 8(3), 351–368.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tunander, O. (1994). Inventing the Barents region: Overcoming the east-West divide. In O. S. Stokke & O. Tunander (Eds.), The Barents region: Cooperation in Arctic Europe (pp. 31–44). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veggeland, N. (1994). The Barents region as a European frontier region. In O. S. Stokke & O. Tunander (Eds.), The Barents region: Cooperation in Arctic Europe (pp. 201–212). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department for Studies of Social Change and Culture, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden

    Per-Anders Forstorp

  2. Faculty of Social Sciences, Nord University, Bodø, Norway

    Per-Anders Forstorp

Authors
  1. Per-Anders Forstorp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Per-Anders Forstorp .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Social Sciences, Nord University, Bodø, Norway

    Marit Sundet

  2. Department for Studies of Social Change and Culture, Linköping University, Norrköping, Sweden

    Per-Anders Forstorp

  3. Faculty of Social Sciences, Nord University, Bodø, Norway

    Anders Örtenblad

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Forstorp, PA. (2017). What We Talk About When We Talk About Internationalization. In: Sundet, M., Forstorp, PA., Örtenblad, A. (eds) Higher Education in the High North. Higher Education Dynamics, vol 48. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56832-4_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56832-4_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56831-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56832-4

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation