In contrast to the continued decline of liberal arts education in the US, there has been a revived interest in liberal arts education in Asian countries in recent years. Grounded in a comprehensive understanding of the central tenets of liberal arts education in the West, this paper looks into the struggles Asian countries face in their…

Since humanity entered the 20th century, diversity has become a key feature that manifests itself in all aspects of society. As a venue for people and ideas to meet, universities face ever-increasing challenges in fulfilling their cultural mission. With unprecedented human connectivity, cultural competence is more than a goal. It has become an…

China's reform and opening up policy has not only freed the country to become a global economic giant but also tuned its higher education in with international trends. This study examines how internationalization has impacted core university values and whether or not this newly globalized higher education will embrace diversity so that Chinese…

This article examines a scholar's discourses related to edu-business in the context of Sino-Finnish edu-business. Based on a critical approach to interculturality, and the decade-long critiques of culturalism, a case study serves as an illustration of the use of the concept of culture by a scholar from Finland to retail Finnish education in China.…

Since the 19th century, Chinese societies, as latecomers to modernization, have prioritized Western learning. Modelled on European and North American experiences, modern universities were created to serve this purpose. Having little linkage to their indigenous cultural traditions, they operate in Confucian socio-cultural contexts, with constant…

The paper reviews the rapid development of higher education and science in China in the last forty years. It discusses the conditions and strategies of that development, including the ways that it embodies a distinctive Chinese approach to higher education. In particular, the paper reflects on the policies whereby China coordinated with…

The four decades since reform and opening up have seen dramatic changes in China's higher education system. Focusing on international dimensions, the analysis supports the view that reform and opening up was not merely an economic and political reform, but an opening of the mind to the outside world, after the disaster of the Cultural Revolution.…

The philosophy of "publish or perish" has already been adopted as a yardstick by the vast majority of Chinese higher education institutions in their attempts to benchmark Western research universities in recent years, which has led to increasing pressure on university teachers to produce research publications. This paper addresses this…

This review essay analyzes the historiography of Confucian academies ("shuyuan") in imperial China, focusing on five representative books published in China between 2008 and 2014, including two new editions of books originally published in 1995 and 2004. The five authors share a deep concern about the nature of academies, particularly…

Through funding from the Canadian International Development Agency's (CIDA) China Program, the University of Regina (UofR), Canada, implemented two major development projects with the Educational Institute of Jilin province (EIJP) from 1990 to 2001. This paper re-examines this historic cooperation. The paper argues that prevailing theories of…

The Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University-Nova Scotia Agricultural College (FAFU-NSAC) 2 + 2 undergraduate program initiated in 2003 is a model for creative collaboration between China and Canada in undergraduate education. This paper addresses the achievements of the program development and highlights the process for successful curriculum…

This paper examines the approach Brazil has taken to promote the internationalization of higher education over the last decade. Three key areas are identified: human resources development, institution building, and international partnerships. Our analyses of initiatives in these areas demonstrate that Brazil does not follow global trends such as…

Scholarly relations between developed and developing countries have long been characterized by imbalances and asymmetries. The "centers" in the North give direction, provide models, produce research and function as the pinnacles of the academic system while institutions in developing countries copy their development from the…

The evolution of South African universities continues to be shaped by both apartheid and more recent post-apartheid policies. Yet the South African university system is mainly an elite, low participation and high attrition system, offering a medium quality education. Moreover, there is uneven attention to the opportunities that…

In this essay, we interrogate the role of academic freedom in the 21st century by describing its historical genesis in the modern university, its association with the concept of tenure, and how it is reinterpreted by different cultural and social contexts. Afterwards, we examine traditional infringements by national governments upon academic…