Dismantling the Master’s House: A Decolonial Blueprint for Internationalization of Higher Education

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: Diversity, Identity, and Inclusion in International Contexts (Table 1)

Abstract

Critical scholars have attempted to decenter internationalization and chart the uneven spheres of knowledge/power that international student im/migrants traverse and inhabit. However, only limited research has conceptualized internationalization efforts in the context of the socio-historical particularities of the postcolonial condition. This paper takes a decolonial perspective in the study of internationalization, in light of the Eurocentric tendencies of modernity, whose most influential manifestation in higher education is neoliberal globalization. This paper unpacks internationalization and examines how it is embedded in and reproduces neoliberalism, racism, and colonialism. Since decolonization is not merely deconstructive but also fundamentally reconstructive and regenerative, this paper identifies promising practices to spark ongoing reflection and action about ways to contest coloniality/modernity and rethink mobility.

Authors

• Bhavika Sicka, Old Dominion University

• Minghui Hou, Southern Illinois University - Carbondale