Power Dynamics of International Knowledge Generation
2023 Internationalisation of Higher Education Colloquium
The internationalisation of the higher education community has not sufficiently engaged with the dynamics of knowledge production. For instance, the 2014
Nelson Mandela Bay Global Dialogue Declaration on the Future of Internationalisation of Higher Education augmented innovative thinking around programmes, curricula, and mobility, without emphasising knowledge production.
In the absence of intentional engagement with the knowledge production dimension of internationalisation of higher education, little attention has been paid to underlying unequal dynamics; however, some have expressed concern (for example,
Hagenmeier, 2021 ;
Jacobs, Kruger & Madiope, 2022 ). Inequalities and complexities impact knowledge production, and various discourses are emerging in different geopolitical spaces (
Jacobs & Mitchel, 2021).
The University of the Free State’s Office for International Affairs thus invites you to participate in a colloquium to be held on 18 and 19 September 2023, which will explore the power dynamics of international knowledge generation. We plan to bring together UFS collaborators and individuals with insight into international higher education, to consider and appreciate how the power dynamics of knowledge generation can be intentionally transcended, and to envisage the future of knowledge generation.
The intention is to meet in person and engage on the Bloemfontein Campus of the
UFS. The colloquium will include short presentations and opportunities for engagement in different formats. We intend to crystallise a joint statement on the future of knowledge generation in the international higher education space that transcends inequalities.
We propose some themes and subthemes as first building blocks to consider how we could foster epistemic diversity, but themes are not exhaustive:
Knowledge Generation
• What are the dynamics of the internationalisation discourse?
• The dynamics of the spaces in which the internationalisation discourse takes place.
• Methodologies and approaches to knowledge production.
• Fostering epistemic diversity and decolonising knowledge generation.
• Linguistic diversity in research.
• Axiological considerations.
• Providing pluriform perspectives in the curriculum.
• Synergies and interdependence between the curriculum and research.
• Scholarship of internationalisation.
International Publishing
• The dynamics of publishing and the consequences thereof.
• Rules of publishing.
• Accessibility of published content.
• The cost of publishing.
• The indexing processes.
Collaborating
• Diversification of international partnerships.
• Diversification of co-authorship.
• Rethinking the power dynamics in collaborations, specifically regarding engagements with the Global North.
• The dynamics of funding models and its influence on knowledge production.
21st Century
• The influence of AI on the dynamics of knowledge production.
• Ethical research in the 21st Century.
• Ethical internationalisation in the 21st Century.
Registration
LINK:
Programme
Please email your abstract or any queries to
2023ColloquiumOIA@ufs.ac.za