Covid-19 crisis & branch campuses: reconfigured mobilities ?

International mobility being restricted in the current global pandemic we are going through, how will it impact students’ mobilities in branch campuses? On the one hand, in the Fall 2020 – and maybe even in early 2021 – branch campuses might solely recruit immobile domestic students living not too far from the branch campus. That Read more about Covid-19 crisis & branch campuses: reconfigured mobilities ?[…]

Offshore campus development worldwide – Forging a powerful locomotive for the transformation and globalization of higher education?

The first foreign university’s branch I set foot on is located on a compound consisting of red-brick buildings in the outskirts of Berlin. The building is part of a redeveloped factory ground where one of the formerly biggest producers of locomotives in the world had its production sites. Next to the buildings that hosts the Read more about Offshore campus development worldwide – Forging a powerful locomotive for the transformation and globalization of higher education?[…]

Transnational higher education in the United Arab Emirates and its culture of availability

While doing research on the phenomenon of offshore university campuses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one of my interview partners in Dubai compared its broad selection of foreign universities to the city’s multi-cuisine restaurant scene. By this, he was invoking a common narrative. The UAE are often advertised as a place providing access to Read more about Transnational higher education in the United Arab Emirates and its culture of availability[…]

Travelling Architectures, Signs and Symbols of British Campuses Abroad

The value of an overseas degree is not just based on its curriculum and contents – its symbolic value needs to be established through associations, signs and symbols. Often these invoke the relations to the origin of sending institutions’ campuses and cities. This may involve the transfer of architectural, material elements and even the construction Read more about Travelling Architectures, Signs and Symbols of British Campuses Abroad[…]

Conducting research on French offshore campuses while “gilet jaunes” stage protests

As part of my doctoral project on the development of French offshore campuses I conduct interviews with decision-makers in higher education institutions or in public bodies in charge of developing France’s transnational education. During a field work from mid-April to mid-May 2019 I not only delved into the cosmos of France’s higher education, its actors, Read more about Conducting research on French offshore campuses while “gilet jaunes” stage protests[…]

Internationalization of the French Grandes Écoles: an Interview with Adrien Delespierre

On the 20th of March Alice Bobée met (virtually) Adrien Delespierre to discuss the internationalization of French engineering and business Grandes Écoles. The discussion provided a platform to question the concept of marketization with regards to the internationalization strategies of French higher education institutions. The extent to which admission procedures in French higher education institutions Read more about Internationalization of the French Grandes Écoles: an Interview with Adrien Delespierre[…]

TRANSEDU at German Congress for Geography (DKG) 2019 in Kiel

We are excited to attend the upcoming DKG 2019 that will be hosted from 25 to 30 September in the northern German city of Kiel. Jana Kleibert co-organised two sessions to which Tim Rottleb and Alice Bobée will contribute with own presentations. The first session will bring together researchers investigating stakeholders and their logics in Read more about TRANSEDU at German Congress for Geography (DKG) 2019 in Kiel[…]

Photo: Jana Kleibert

Offshore Campuses: Global Anchors in a Transforming World?

Offshore campuses (OCs) are physical presences of higher education institutions abroad that provide academic degree programmes of the home institution, operating independently or in collaboration with business and/or academic partners. In contrast to the C-BERT listing (2017), our database maps out 431 offshore campuses. Focusing on the urban scale, we find high levels of concentration Read more about Offshore Campuses: Global Anchors in a Transforming World?[…]

Podcast Society@Space: Welcome to Nottingham, Malaysia

>> Play Podcast In the 1990s, universities began branching out internationally, setting up offices or branch campuses in other countries and continents. But what are the reasons and motivations behind this? Has higher education become a global commodity? And how does university internationalization affect students, faculty and places – those involved and those not involved? Read more about Podcast Society@Space: Welcome to Nottingham, Malaysia[…]