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Bergen Summer Research School
Course | BSRS 2021

Internationalising Higher Education

Designed for PhD students who are developing careers as professors and university leaders, this course offers a survey of global trends across the higher education sector, with special attention to strategies for development of inter-institutional collaborations, including international joint programs, exchange projects, online/distance education consortia, and research partnerships.

Main content

Course leaders
David G. Hebert, Professor, Faculty of Education, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (Bergen).
Steinar Sætre, Associate Professor, Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen.
Robert Gray, Associate Professor, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen.

This interdisciplinary course is for PhD students who are developing careers as professors and leaders of higher education institutions, including both private and public colleges and universities. The course offers a survey of global trends across the higher education sector, with special attention to strategies for development of inter-institutional collaborations, including international joint programmes, student and faculty exchange projects, online/distance education consortia, and research partnerships.

Students will gain an understanding of the philosophical positions that undergird movements to internationalise and decolonise university curriculum, as well as the practical challenges associated with efforts to strengthen internationalisation.

Upon completion of this course, students will be equipped with deeper knowledge of how to bolster intercultural competence and improve the effectiveness and global engagement of higher education institutions.

Learning outcomes
Students will:

  • Understand practical challenges associated with efforts to strengthen internationalisation.
  • Understand philosophical arguments concerning the internationalisation and decolonisation of university curriculum.
  • Identify research-based approaches for: (1) effective use of digital technologies in distance education, (2) negotiation of mutually-beneficial partnerships, and (3) promotion of institutions and localities through their connections to unique cultural and artistic heritage.
  • Develop deeper knowledge of how to bolster intercultural competence and improve the effectiveness and global engagement of higher education institutions.
  • Produce research publications based on the course material.


Credits
Participation at the BSRS is credited under the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). Participants submitting an essay, in a form of a publishable manuscript of 10-20 pages, after the end of the summer school will receive 10 ECTS. Deadline for submission will be decided by your course leader.

It is also possible to participate without producing an essay. This will give you 4 ECTS. In order to receive credits, we expect full participation in the course-specific modules, plenary events and roundtables.

David G. Hebert, is Professor in the Faculty of Education at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (Bergen). He is also manager of the Nordic Network for Music Education, Professor II with Lund University, and an Honorary Professor with the Education University of Hong Kong. His scholarly interests include comparative education, music, educational technology, and cultural heritage policy. A widely published and cited researcher (h-index: 15), he has published several books, as well as articles in 35 different professional journals, and has worked for universities on five continents.

Associate Professor Steinar Sætre teaches Education and Jazz Studies at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design at University of Bergen. He has extensive experience with international collaboration in music education, especially in Uganda and the United States. His research interest is particularly related to the institutionalisation of learning practices. Sætre has previously been both head of department and coordinator for education and internationalisation at his own department - the Grieg Academy, Department of Music. He has also worked as visiting scholar at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Tulane University, New Orleans.

Robert Gray is Associate Professor of University Pedagogy at the University of Bergen, Norway. He holds a PhD in Instructional Technology from the University of Alabama. He has over twenty years’ experience in faculty development, focusing primarily on digital and online learning. He has also taught composition, literature, and research writing at the University of Alabama, Michigan State University, Troy University, and the University of South Alabama. His research interests include interaction in online learning, alternative assessment, how technology impacts assessment practices, comparative higher education, and how to define quality in teaching and learning online.

Required reading

Gibson, B., Hyde, M., & Gordon, T. (2015). Social Media and Intercultural Competence: Using Each to Explore the Other. In R. D. Williams & A. Lee (Eds.), Internationalizing Higher Education (187–200). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. 

Gleason, N. W. (2018). Introduction. In N. W. Gleason (Ed.), Higher Education in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (p.1-11). Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Gray, R. (2019). Meaningful Interaction: Toward a New Theoretical Approach to Online Instruction. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 28(4), 473-484, DOI: 10.1080/1475939X.2019.1635519

Guzman-Valenzuela, C. (2019). Values and the International Collaborative Research in Higher Education: Negotiating Epistemic Power Between the Global South and the Global North. In P. Gibbs, et al. (Eds.), Values of the University in a Time of Uncertainty (p.137-153). Cham: Springer Nature.

Hebert, D. G. & Hauge, T. B. (2019). Conclusion: Learning from Two Decades of Music Education Leadership. In D. G. Hebert & T. B. Hauge, (Eds.), Advancing Music Education in Northern Europe (pp.247-276). New York: Taylor & Francis.   

Jackson, J. (2015). “Unpacking” International Experience through Blended Intercultural Practice. In R. D. Williams & A. Lee (Eds.), Internationalizing Higher Education (231–251). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. 

Lewis, P. & Rupp, K. (2015). Liberal Education in Asia: Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities. New Global Studies, 9(3), 245-266. 

Lilley, K., Barker, M. & Harris, N. (2017). The Global Citizen Conceptualized: Accommodating Ambiguity. Journal of Studies in International Education, 21(1) 6–­21. DOI: 10.1177/1028315316637354 

Seeber, M., Meoli, M., & Cattaneo, M. (2020). How do European Higher Education Institutions Internationalize? Studies in Higher Education, 45(1), 145-162, DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2018.1541449

Stein, S. (2019). Critical Internationalization Studies at an Impasse: Making Space for Complexity, Uncertainty, and Complicity in a Time of Global Challenges. Studies in Higher Education. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2019.1704722

Uzhegova, D. & Baik, C. (2020): Internationalisation of Higher Education in an Uneven World: An Integrated Approach to Internationalisation of Universities in the Academic Periphery. Studies in Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2020.1811220

Wu, H. & Zha, Q. (2018). A New Typology for Analyzing the Direction of Movement in Higher Education Internationalization. Journal of Studies in International Education, 22(3) 259–­277. DOI: 10.1177/1028315318762582