Collaborative on Higher Education and International Relations Colloquium 

This colloquium will explore an emerging field of inquiry, one which currently exists at the nexus of international relations and higher education studies.  Over the past decades, higher education has emerged as an important actor in international relations as an increasing number of students, faculty, programs, and institutions are crossing international borders.  Nonetheless, education is scantly referenced in existing scholarship in the field of international relations. This meeting will seek to build knowledge about higher education and, specifically, its role in international relations, economic development and public diplomacy around the world.  It will focus on developing a scholarly agenda for the discovery, analysis, and dissemination of research on the topic. 

COLLOQUIUM AGENDA

Welcome and Opening Remarks

David Lavallee, State University of New York

Tom Gais, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Jason Lane, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Plenary Session 1:  Higher Education Institutions as International Actors

Moderator: Jason Lane, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Mark S. Johnson, University of Wisconsin 

Kathryn Friedman, University at Buffalo

Dan Whitman, American University

Plenary Session 2: Higher Education and Public Diplomacy

 Moderator: Brian Heuser, Vanderbilt University

Stephen Dunnett, University at Buffalo

S. Ilgu Ozler, SUNY, New Paltz

Michael McCarry, Alliance for Educational and Cultural Exchange 

Plenary Session 3: A View from the Field

Noel Lateef, Foreign Policy Association

Bob Gosende, University at Albany

Breakout Sessions: Setting the Agenda

Plenary Session 4: Identifying Main Agenda Items 

Moderators:  Jason Lane, Kevin Kinse, S. Ilgu Ozler

The specific goals of the meeting are to:

• Frame the emerging role of higher education institutions as this relates to the international activity of colleges and activity, particularly in terms of their direct and/or indirect involvement in the international relations between nation-states. 
• Explore the feasibility of developing an initial set of core research questions that will drive the early development of the field of inquiry. 
• Prepare and publish a summary that provides a foundation for future consideration of the role of higher education and international relations and provides background for the development of a long-term research collaborative.

The program builds on a foundation of initiatives at the University at Albany which have encouraged rigorous research in comparative and international education, including private higher education and cross-border education.  In particular, the Ford Foundation funded Program for Research on Private Higher Education (PROPHE) is a multinational collaborative project designed to fostered scholarly research in the development of private higher education.  The Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT) has developed an affiliate program that unites those interested in studying transnational education initiatives. 

This colloquium will bring together the international education expertise of the University at Albany, the research and dissemination arms of the Rockefeller Institute of Government, and international education and public diplomacy experts from across the State University of New York. 

Organizing Committee

Robert Gosende, University at Albany, SUNY

Kevin Kinser, University at Albany, SUNY

S. Ilgu Ozler, SUNY New Paltz 

Jason E. Lane, Rockefeller Institute of Government

Taya Owens, Rockefeller Institute of Government

 

This colloquium is sponsored by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government and Conversations in the Disciplines, a SUNY Faculty Senate program. 

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