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
Guest talk on offshore campuses at conference on universities under capitalism and austerity
On Friday 20 August 2021, Tim Rottleb was invited to give a talk as a guest speaker at the conference ‘Bildung in der bürgerlichen Gesellschaft — Staat, Kapital und Bildungsidealismus’ in Regensburg, Germany. Targeting an audience at the interface of academia, activism and higher education politics, the conference dealt with the questions of what happens Read more about Guest talk on offshore campuses at conference on universities under capitalism and austerity[…]
Kleibert, Rottleb, Schulze & Bobée (2021) Strategy First: Ten Questions to Answer before Starting an International Campus
Our IRS Dialog Policy Paper „Strategy First: Ten Questions to Answer before Starting an International Campus” discusses the most important risks for developing offshore campuses, based on our discussions with more than 100 senior higher education managers and transnational education stakeholders in Europe, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. These risks include a lack of Read more about Kleibert, Rottleb, Schulze & Bobée (2021) Strategy First: Ten Questions to Answer before Starting an International Campus[…]
Kleibert (2021) Transnational spaces of education as infrastructures of im/mobility
How are international student mobilities mediated by international branch campuses? Jana Kleibert’s new paper develops a conceptualization of offshore campuses as infrastructures of student mobilities and immobilties. A typology shows how offshore campuses differ in their roles: some offer an alternative to international study abroad and thus enable immobilities whereas others are highly dependent upon Read more about Kleibert (2021) Transnational spaces of education as infrastructures of im/mobility[…]
Our team on panel at Society for Research into Higher Education
Alice Bobée and Marc Schulze presented some of their research at the Society for Research into Higher Education on 3rd June 2021 and joined the panel discussion, which was moderated by Dr Jana Kleibert. The online event “Transnational Higher Education: A Focus on International Branch Campuses” was chaired by Dr Miguel Antonio Lim (University of Read more about Our team on panel at Society for Research into Higher Education[…]
Webinars at Regional Studies Association / Centre for Global Higher Education / Regions in Recovery Global e-Festival
Jana Kleibert was strongly engaged in several webinars over the last months. She co-presented “An Introduction to the Small Grant Scheme by the Regional Studies Association” on 21 April: https://www.regionalstudies.org/funding/small-grant-scheme/ Our group paper “‘Education Cities’ to Transnational Education Zones” was discussed at the Centre for Global Higher Education, University of Oxford: http://www.education.ox.ac.uk/events/education-cities-to-transnational-education-zones/. Jana also participated Read more about Webinars at Regional Studies Association / Centre for Global Higher Education / Regions in Recovery Global e-Festival[…]
Session at American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting 2021
Together with Prof Dr Martina Fuchs and her team at the Universität zu Köln we co-organised and participated in the session “Global production – global skills? Critical perspectives on knowledge and regional development” at the AAG Annual Meeting on 11 April 2021. The session provided insightful discussions on the role of transnational actors and offshore Read more about Session at American Association of Geographers (AAG) Annual Meeting 2021[…]
Presentation at TNE-Hub Research Symposium
Marc Schulze and Tim Rottleb gave a presentation on „Anticipated benefits and missed opportunities of offshore campus imports – Experiences from Southeast Asia and the Arab Gulf region“ at the Third TNE-Hub Research Symposium on 31 March 2021. The symposium “Why Transnational Education? From market access to sustainable global engagement”, which was convened by Dr Read more about Presentation at TNE-Hub Research Symposium[…]
Kleibert & Schulze (2021) EduCity in Iskandar Malaysia: Eine transnationale Bildungszone als Megaprojekt
Jana Kleibert and Marc Schulze published a new paper in the Geographische Rundschau Special Issue “Mega projects in Asia”. The paper gives a glimpse of EduCity in the Johor-Singapore cross-border global city-region. Jana Kleibert & Marc Schulze (2021) EduCity in Iskandar Malaysia: Eine transnationale Bildungszone als Megaprojekt. Geographische Rundschau. https://www.westermann.de/anlage/4629098/EduCity-in-Iskandar-Malaysia-Eine-transnationale-Bildungszone-als-Megaprojekt
Research project on International Higher Education in Crisis: Covid-19 Impacts and Strategies
Globalisation’s challenges include a slowing of global trade caused partially by protectionist economic policies and, more recently, the Covid-19 pandemic severely restricted human mobility and cross-border trade. This research project assesses how the current crisis impacts and reworks existing economic geographies, taking the higher education sector as a critical example through which to understand broader Read more about Research project on International Higher Education in Crisis: Covid-19 Impacts and Strategies[…]
Schulze (2020) Of bumping and bending: Foreign universities’ FDI strategies in Malaysia
Marc Schulze’s latest paper investigates how transnationally operating universities have interacted with state regulation of the higher education sector in Malaysia and strategically modified their geographical configuration. Marc Schulze (2020) Of Bumping and Bending: Foreign Universities’ FDI Strategies in Malaysia. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.12472