Diaspora and Internationalisation in Higher Education

While, historically, the term ‘diaspora’ referred to the dispersion of the Jewish people from ancient Israel, in contemporary times, the term is used much more widely by academics, policy-makers, and national and supra-national institutions. The term has come to encompass vast and diverse groups of people who claim a tie to both their homelands and host-countries including highly-skilled migrants; refugees; and religious and ethnic minorities amongst others. In contrast to other terms such as ‘immigrants,’ the term diaspora perpetuates the feeling of dislocation, and alludes to hybrid identities, allegiances and cultural practices. Yet despite this growing phenomenon, there has been rather less research on the role of these new diaspora formations on international higher education and knowledge production.

Through contributions from scholars from around the world, in this BAICE Thematic Forum, we aim to critically examine diverse theoretical perspectives and empirical cases of diaspora and how they inform the theme of
internationalisation in higher education.

Opening Plenary:

Prof. Fazal Rizvi, University of Melbourne
Higher Education as a Site of the Formation of Business Diaspora

Dr. Reza Gholami, University of Birmingham
Is the concept of ‘diasporic education’ meaningful? Exploring possibilities and
challenges

Register at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/diaspora-and-internationalisation-in-highereducation-tickets-50706696093