Living in Between: Navigating Temporal, Spatial, and Legal Precarity as International Students

• In Event: Advancing Higher Education: International Perspectives

Abstract

This study explores how international students in U.S. higher education navigate the intersecting forces of global power dynamics, immigration policy, technological surveillance, and academic timelines. Drawing on interviews and public narratives, the analysis foregrounds students’ lived experiences of temporal and spatial precarity. While often framed as apolitical learners, international students are shown to be politically situated actors shaped by racialized migration regimes and global power asymmetries. The findings reveal both the emotional toll of bureaucratic opacity and the strategic forms of resistance students employ, including legal advocacy and relational care. By centering their voices, the study calls for a more justice-oriented approach to international education that acknowledges the structural conditions shaping students’ vulnerability and agency.

Author

• Shuang Fu, New York University