14 FORUM
B NIEUWS 02 3 OKTOBER 2011
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Why internationalize? We often hear that the university is ‘internationalizing’. It seems to be a natural development in a globalized country like the Netherlands. However, what does internationalization mean and why should the university internationalize? First of all, I must acknowledge that I am biased. I am a product of internationalization myself. And I am also a great beneficiary of it. I first came to TU Delft on a partnership programme among several European and Latin American universities. The paths opened to me by this opportunity and changed my professional and personal perspectives forever. In order to talk about internationalization, it is necessary to distinguish among its different faces in the academic world. The first aspect that comes to mind is the increasing amount of international students seeking Bouwkunde for an outstanding education. This is perhaps the most recognizable face of internationalization, but there is much more to it. The internationalization of the university has to do with seeking partnerships abroad in order to expand our knowledge base and to make our own ideas known to the world. It has also to do with having an international staff able to research and teach in a variety of subjects to an international audience. Finally, it has to do with diversifying the subjects being taught and researched. We could say that internationalization of the university is all about international students, staff, partners and subjects. By international subjects, I mean both an international research agenda and an international curriculum (one is perhaps the consequence of the other). Those aspects are obviously closely intertwined. Having more partners abroad opens doors for internation-
these in turn bring with them new knowledge, but also new values and expectations. Richard C. Levin is the president of Yale University (in the States, even universities have presidents). Levin has a very enlightened opinion about internationalization. For him, the ‘emerging global university’ entails ‘a curriculum permeated by awareness that political, economic, social, and cultural phenomena in any part of the world can no longer be fully understood in isolation’. (http://opac.yale.edu/president/ message.aspx?id=7). This means that the ways we produce and disseminate knowledge have changed dramatically. Knowledge is never fully realized unless it is effectively communicated, processed and compared. This entails the understanding that knowledge exists in permanent flows of exchange, constituting what we may call networks of knowledge. Just like nations or people, knowledge does not exist in isolation. Those networks of knowledge must be necessarily open, permeable and non-hierarchical (no one is at the top of the pyramid: all must participate and exchange, and gain from the experience). The difference now is that those networks of knowledge are much more extended. They go much beyond what we used to call the nation state or even linguistic areas. We are also moving away from a Eurocentric view of the world, towards a more systemic understanding of common challenges that must be faced by all, albeit in different capacities. The university is perhaps the most important articulating node in those networks of knowledge. But in order to remain competitive and to produce knowledge that is relevant, we need to be able to produce and impart knowledge in a much larger arena. The world is our field of action. To support this vision, Levin has a compelling argument: “Increased interdependence requires that the leaders and citizens of tomorrow have cross-cultural awareness (…). In both their private and public lives, the students of today will find that the outside world cannot be ignored. To an unprecedented extent, the careers of the next generation will be global in scope,
whether in business, law, health care, or education. Students need to be prepared for interaction around the globe, in the personal challenges they confront as well as the public challenges we face together”. I wonder if we could call this ‘globalisation’? In any case, the university is actually one of the places where this vague phenomenon called globalization materializes in a more tangible way. TU Delft is internationalizing in all fronts. Currently, the faculty has a staff of 64 foreign academics (a bit less than 20% of the total). This excludes PhD candidates, who constitute a large international community. In the last few years, the number of international students at BK has risen, from a mere 38 in 2003 to 185 in 2010. Currently, approximately 22% of all Masters students are internationals. These numbers do not include exchange students who come to BK through one of our several partnership programmes. Agnes Wijers, director for International Affairs at TU Delft, ponders that 30% of international students would be the goal for the next few years. This does not seem difficult to attain, thanks to the recognition our faculty enjoys abroad and the fact that the Masters programme has been offered in English for a number of years. Is TU Delft prepared for an increasing influx of internationals? Yes, but it needs to get better, says Agnes. For her, some of the challenges include better English training for teachers and students and more housing for internationals. Both problems are being tackled. Steps have been taken to assess teachers’ English skills and to provide language courses for those in need. The fees for international students will rise next year, and it is difficult to predict the impact this will have on the numbers. It must be said that TU Delft will remain competitive price-wise, especially in comparison with its British and American counterparts. It is important to highlight the fact that an increasing number of Dutch students seek opportunities to study abroad and enrich their professional and personal experiences. But as I pointed out, internationalization also means seeking strategic partnerships overseas. One can hardly conceive of any research
project funded by the European Union without several international partners. The EU puts a lot of emphasis on transnational comparisons, for obvious reasons. According to the university’s website, “within the large Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes of the EU (FP6 & FP7), TU Delft takes part in more than 200 research projects with partners from all over the EU”. A prestigious name means that practically anyone would like to be a partner of BK. With such an extended network, it is natural that the faculty starts to formulate strategies where some partnerships are emphasized and others discouraged or abandoned.
But having partnerships also means that Dutch researchers and teachers go abroad more and more to gain and impart knowledge. And researchers and teachers from abroad are constantly circulating BK’s corridors. Some of those are bound to make lasting contributions to education and research. What does that mean for education and research at BK? And indeed, what does that mean for the culture of the institution? Is local knowledge being overlooked? Several people seem to agree that specific knowledge (like the Dutch experiences in water management and social housing) is highly appreciated in an international arena. By being able to put local knowledge in an internationalised context, typically Dutch experiences are highlighted and even more valued. Several international PhD candidates conduct comparisons between Dutch experiences and experiences in their own countries. This seems a very effective way to disseminate Dutch knowledge. It comes to mind that international careers seem to be the rule for American and British universities. Those universities strive to attract top researchers, regardless of their nationality. This means that they are able to constantly incorporate new values and new knowledge, while preserving their core values untouched. This process is certainly not painless, but utterly rewarding. Anyone who has enjoyed an international environment knows that the cross fertilization of ideas is much richer. And fun.
Roberto Rocco, Chair Spatial Planning and Strategy, Urbanism r.c.rocco@tudelft.nl