Internationalisation is an evolving and multifaceted phenomenon that has for decades been one of the most profound characteristics of higher education. Internationalisation mainly concerns academic affairs such as student mobility, cooperation in research and the delivery of educational programmes, or the creation of new institutional forms, such as regional or global alliances of universities.

At the same time, higher education actors and international cooperation in higher education and science also play a role, openly or sometimes in disguise, in international relations more broadly, beyond the realm of academic affairs only, through what is called higher education and science diplomacy. Such endeavours are not new.

Is it the case, however, that fundamental changes are currently taking place in this area – in particular given new lines of fracture in the world, such as the war in Ukraine, which dramatically change geopolitical dynamics?

As a consequence, are we seeing a new episode (or era?) in the internationalisation of higher education and in higher education and science diplomacy? What can higher education and science diplomacy contribute? Is the current international environment leading to new approaches in higher education and science diplomacy? What can we do, as academics? What is the relationship between internationalisation and higher education and science diplomacy, and between scholarship and practice?

This KIERN symposium, part of King’s College London’s Education and Society Dialogue Series, will address these questions by considering the main approaches, results, impacts, and challenges of contemporary research on higher education and science diplomacy in and beyond the UK.

Speakers: 

Dr Liviu Matei, Professor of Higher Education and Public Policy and Head of the School of Education, Communication & Society, will chair this event, with panellists: 

• Diane Stone, Chair of Global Policy, European University Institute (joining us online)
• Maddalaine Ansell, Director Education, British Council
• Ben O'Loughlin, Professor of International Relations, Royal Holloway University
• Jane Hayward, Lecturer in China and Global Affairs, Lau China Institute, King's College London
• Ben Kienzle, Reader in Security Cooperation, King's College London

A Q&A session will follow the lecture, before the in-person attendees will be invited to stay for a networking reception in the Council Room.

 

The event will be hybrid: there will be live auto-captioning available on the livestream. Those attending virtually will receive the joining link via email nearer the time.

Please note bookings for in-person attendees have now closed. If you would like to be put on a waiting list, please email comms-ecs@kcl.ac.uk. Please note you can still book to attend the event virtually.

Part of the Education & Society Dialogue series

The School of Education, Communication & Society (ECS) at King’s hosts the Education and Society Dialogues, a high-level series of research-informed events bringing together academics and university leaders, education professionals, public policy makers and regulators, and media representatives.

Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of research and teaching at ECS, which focuses on education in its broadest sense, the series will identify and address key contemporary issues within the broad area of ‘education and society’.

Find out more >