Time: 5:00 - 6:30pm Venue: David Sizer Lecture Theatre, Bancroft Building, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS
The framing of the internationalisation of higher education is complex, and often seems to encompass directly conflicting agendas. This talk explores what our students may gain from a particular approach to the internationalisation of the curriculum (IOC). Because I believe a university education is about enabling our students to make their way, professionally and personally, in a globalising world, I propose IOC to be a process relevant to all students in all disciplines. IOC, I suggest, should be a process to enhance learning, to create greater academic equity, and to build the capabilities which all our students will need to lead lives they have reason to value (Sen, 1993, 1999) in the fluid world(s) which await them. A significant dimension to these capabilities is a capacity for conversation with diverse others. How can our formal and our hidden curricula be interrogated, shaped and delivered in ways which will give all our students the confidence and the competence to step outside their communities of similitude and experience and identify themselves as individuals who can, who have, and who will continue to be people who engage with Others?