IBC//Spaces
Globalising universities can be understood as economic actors engaging in the symbolic, social, and material construction of transnational spaces of higher education. The construction of international branch campus (IBCs), spatially concentrated in “education cities” in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Singapore, or Malaysia, are particularly visible expressions of internationalisation and marketization strategies in the contemporary knowledge economy. These spaces function as crystallisation points of globalisation, embedded in translocal networks and flows of people, knowledge and capital. Simultaneously, they are embedded in place-based local, urban and national development strategies. We conduct a multi-scalar and multi-sited research project, drawing on different perspectives in human geography, to map, understand, and contribute to debates on the geographies of globalisation of higher education.
The project is funded by the Leibniz Association's
Best Minds Competition 2018.
TEAM and Partners
Jana Maria Kleibert
Tim Rottleb
Alice Bobée
Marc Schulze
Neil Coe
Bas van Heur
IBC//spaces
IBS//spaces
Latest activities
Bobée and Kleibert (2022): Choose France! Containment, circulation and postcolonial (dis)continuities in transnational education
We contribute to a post-colonial analysis of transnational education, by empirically analysing the extent to which French offshore campuses in Africa constitute a break with or rather a continuation of (post)colonial higher education geographies and student mobilities. Showing how French offshore campuses do not simply enact French policies but increasingly adapt their strategies to competitive Read more about Bobée and Kleibert (2022): Choose France! Containment, circulation and postcolonial (dis)continuities in transnational education[…]
Erkner Encounter #9 with Dr Lee Rensimer, CGHE
On 10 May 2022 the TRANSEDU team met with Dr Lee Rensimer for a digital Erkner Encounter. Lee is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) at UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society. In his academic work, in which he particularly focuses on the context of the United Arab Emirates Read more about Erkner Encounter #9 with Dr Lee Rensimer, CGHE[…]
Tim Rottleb presenting at Cosmopolis Lunch Seminar in Brussels
As part of a one month research stay at the Cosmopolis Centre for Urban Research at the Department of Geography of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Tim Rottleb presented the conceptual stage of a paper during a session of the Cosmopolis Lunch Seminar series on 31 March 2022. The working title of the paper is “Gateway Read more about Tim Rottleb presenting at Cosmopolis Lunch Seminar in Brussels[…]
Marc Schulze and Tim Rottleb give a talk during the 5th MENA HELF Forum
On 24 March Marc Schulze and Tim Rottleb were invited to participate in a hybrid panel during the 5th MENA Higher Education Leadership Forum taking place online and in Dubai. The bi-annual forum brings together higher education leaders and decision makers from across the globe, and engages them in discussion on the latest trends, developments Read more about Marc Schulze and Tim Rottleb give a talk during the 5th MENA HELF Forum[…]
Policy Paper: Developing Successful Transnational Education Hubs
As governments across the globe seek to enhance the competitiveness of theircountries through advancing knowledge-intensive industries, the global demand for international higher education is growing. To satisfy this growing demand in the knowledge-based economy, some governments seek to position their countries (or particular cities) as an education hub, a centre for (higher) learning and knowledge Read more about Policy Paper: Developing Successful Transnational Education Hubs[…]
Rottleb & Kleibert (2022) Circulation and containment in the knowledge-based economy: Transnational education zones in Dubai and Qatar
Albeit many governments have switched their focus from industrialisation and export-led development to the evasive quest of the knowledge-based economy, special economic zones as a development tool are still a growing phenomenon. As the range of different types of zones is diversifying, Tim Rottleb and Jana Schulze interrogate a relatively new type of zone that Read more about Rottleb & Kleibert (2022) Circulation and containment in the knowledge-based economy: Transnational education zones in Dubai and Qatar[…]
Erkner Encounter #8: Prof Natalie Koch, Syracuse University
On 7 December 2021 we welcomed Prof Natalie Koch to another digital Erkner Encounter. Natalie is a political geographer and Associate Professor for Geography and the Environment at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. What ties her work to our own is her research that critically reflects on the export of Western Read more about Erkner Encounter #8: Prof Natalie Koch, Syracuse University[…]
New blog article online at Regional Studies Association: Transnational Higher Education and the Covid-19 Pandemic
The blog articles summarises new findings on how international branch campuses are affected by the pandemic: https://www.regionalstudies.org/news/blog-transnational-higher-education-and-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Schulze & Kleibert (2021) Transnational education for regional economic development? Understanding Malaysia’s and Singapore’s strategic coupling in global higher education
Why can we observe inconsistencies in countries‘ international education hub projects? And why have we seen moments of de-coupling at international branch campuses in Malaysia and Singapore recently? In their new research article, Marc Schulze and Jana Kleibert present a new economic-geographic perspective that could contribute to the discussion of these issues. The paper explores Read more about Schulze & Kleibert (2021) Transnational education for regional economic development? Understanding Malaysia’s and Singapore’s strategic coupling in global higher education[…]
Discussion on offshore campuses with AK Bildungsgeographie at Geowoche2021
Marc Schulze presented his latest articles at the ‘Digitale GeoWoche’, the online alternative of this year’s ‘Deutscher Kongress für Geographie’, where he discussed his research project with the ‘Arbeitskreis Bildungsgeographie’ (working group Geography of Education). The session ‘Gestaltung transnationaler Räume der Hochschulbildung’ on 06 October 2021 was organized by Prof Dr Holger Jahnke (Europe University Read more about Discussion on offshore campuses with AK Bildungsgeographie at Geowoche2021[…]