Hi everyone! My name is Jen Kalaidis, and I am in my second semester of the HEA program. I currently work as the Program Assistant for the undergraduate public policy program at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House. In this role, I have the opportunity to work closely with both Hunter College students and faculty. I am pursuing my MSEd to continue to advance my career in higher education, where I hope to work in academic advising and/or education abroad. I am originally from the Twin Cities, and I received my undergrad degrees in History and Global Cultures from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I also spent a semester studying abroad in Paris, France and a did an summer internship in Buea, Cameroon.

Response to reading:

In an increasingly globalized world, international education is more important than ever for a student’s academic and professional success. While most universities are vocal about their support for increasing international exchange between students, faculty, and institutions, their actual practice of promoting this exchange varies by country and institutional type. The main overlapping theme I noticed in this week’s readings is the how much economic and foreign policy goals of an individual country shape its universities’ international education opportunities.

Altbach and de Wit discuss the history of the internationalization of higher education. They discuss the role universities played in the twentieth century — and continue to play today — as arbitrators of international diplomacy. Following the devastation of WWI, “there was a strong belief that the academic community could help build international solidarity and contribute to peace building” (Altbach and de Wit, 2015, pp. 2). While there would be another world war just a few decades later, which proved to be a big setback for internationalization efforts, the idea of universities being the “means of fostering the development of mutual understanding” (Altbach and de Wit, 2015, pp. 2) continued throughout the Cold War. With global tensions on the rise in many regions of the world, Altbach and de Wit close their article discussing how international education is one of the “essential mechanisms for keeping communication open and dialogue active” (Altbach and de Wit, 2015, pp. 4).

Despite the important role international higher education can play in global affairs, Madeline Green’s article discusses how the United States is lagging behind in its efforts. While she does not go into specific detail as to why this is the case, here are some questions that came to mind from the reading, which I hope we can explore this semester:

• Is the increasing cost of higher education in the U.S. a reason why international students are choosing other destinations to study instead of the U.S.? Likewise, are financial barriers the reason why less Americans study abroad than students in other countries?
• Do the increasing funding cuts to higher education impact the ability for American universities to send students abroad?
• With much of U.S. foreign policy focused on the Middle East, why is it that there is so little international student exchange between the U.S. and that region?
• What role does an increasingly isolationist Republican Party play in shaping international higher education?

The final reading, the Oxford report, discussed many other areas of international collaboration beyond just the exchange of students. From satellite campuses to MOOCs, internationalization is rapidly changing the global higher education landscape. My most surprising take away from this reading was that only 10 percent of American students study abroad (University of Oxford, 2015, pp. 7). Since the report shows that the countries that put the most resources into international education are the ones who are generally reap the most benefits, I find this particularly troubling.

Those of us working in New York City are fortunate to work with many international students, but this is not the case at many American universities. With such strong evidence of the social, political, and economic benefits of international education, I hope the U.S. strengthens its participation in the larger global higher education landscape.