International Workshop “Constructing Transnational Spaces of Higher Education” at IRS in Erkner

It was a great pleasure to welcome our two project members Prof. Neil Coe (Department of Geography, National University of Singapore) and Prof. Bas van Heur (Department of Geography, Vrije Universiteit Brussels) as well as our Advisory Board members Prof. Kris Olds (Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison), Prof. Sarah Hall (School of Geography, University of Nottingham) and Prof. Francis Collins (National Institute Demographic Economic Department, University of Waikato) to our international workshop on the 10th and 11th of January 2019. The aim of the workshop, led by Dr. Jana Kleibert, was to discuss the TRANSEDU project as well as the PhD projects of Alice Bobée, Tim Rottleb and Marc Schulze. We started by discussing questions of definitions and typologies of branch campuses and the power of metaphors, mappings and visualisations. Our conversation topics were wide-ranging, including how to research the discursive and material constructions of European universities’ offshore campuses in post-colonial contexts, how to conduct multi-sited research on transnational (urban) education zones, and how to make sense of academic mobilities associated with transnational education. Besides giving inspiring and constructive feedback on different aspects of the projects, the workshop was also the occasion for the Advisory Board members to record the first IRS podcast on the Globalization of Higher Education. We also engaged in informal exchange with our guests during a tour through the IRS archive, led by Dr. Kai Drewes from the IRS, and on a boat excursion on the Spree River. In short: a very enriching workshop!