By Krista Rogers. Not a day goes by without Japanese school children hearing the terms globalization (グロバール化) or internationalization (国際化), and why it’s so important for their future careers. In fact, the whole country seems to be swept up in a fervor of these two words. But do Japanese people really understand the meanings of them, or are the terms just being used as catchphrases?
Enter Austin, an international student who has been living in Japan since 2012. Last week he posted a thought-provoking piece called “Some Thoughts – And Doubts – About Japan’s Internationalization” on Tofugu, a Japanese language and culture blog. The piece has circulated around the Internet, and was even picked up and summarized in Japanese by popular Japanese blogger Madame Riri. In it, Austin addresses how while Japan may be making efforts to globalize on the surface, it still lacks something on a deeper level that is preventing it from becoming truly internationalized. Join the debate after we take look at some of his thoughts below. More...

By Annika Sundback-Lindroos. As Europe struggles with unemployment and economic downturn, the focus of the higher education sector should be on creating new knowledge to support innovation and growth. Why, then, is there so much emphasis being put on developing and implementing time- and resource-consuming joint academic programmes? Could it be that academic added value and student learning outcomes can be reached through a joint international curriculum with integrated mobility, ie, through joint study programmes?
Joint study programmes have long been both academically and politically prioritised within the European Higher Education Arena (EHEA). They were first mentioned in relation to the inter-ministerial Bologna Process in 2001, since joint study programmes are directly linked to Bologna action lines of mobility, joint curriculum development and quality assurance. Today, the Bologna Process is one of the main voluntary processes at European level, and is implemented in the 47 EHEA states. The latest Bologna meeting resulted in the Bucharest Communiqué, stating: “We encourage higher education institutions to further develop joint programmes and degrees as part of a wider EHEA approach. We will examine national practices as a way to dismantle obstacles to cooperation and mobility.” More...

By Christina C. Davidson. A MOOC at Duke University, “History and Future of (Mostly) Higher Education,” opened on Monday morning. A few of us gathered in the university’s Smith Warehouse, anticipating a rush of technical questions about the online course. None came. More...

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
Internationalization Strategies Advisory Service (ISAS) – projects underway with IAU Member institutions in Peru, Botswana and Japan 
As reported in pervious issues of IAU Horizons, a number of ISAS projects are currently underway.
The IAU Panel for the project with Universidad Cientifica del Peru (UCP), Peru, undertook the site visit to the institution in early October. The Panel is currently writing up the project report, which will include advice and recommendations for future action on the university’s internationalization strategy and related activities.
The IAU Senior Fellow, Madeleine Green, undertook the initial site visit to the University of Botswana (UoB) in September. During her two day meeting she met with a range of stakeholders from across the institution to provide further details of the ISAS project; formulated a workplan, and timeframe and helped to initiate the university’s ISAS Institutional Committee who will manage and facilitate the process from within the institution. The Committee will now begin the research required to develop the institution’s Self- Assessment Report, which forms an essential part of every ISAS project. It is expected that the site visit to the institution by the IAU Panel, will take place in the first few months of 2014. Both ISAS projects with UCP and UoB are made possible thanks to funding from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and contributions by each university.
The IAU is also pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement with Meiji University, Japan, an IAU Member institution, to undertake an ISAS project. An initial site visit to the University was conducted by IAU Secretary General, Eva Egron-Polak in 2013. The project will also include a two-and-ahalf- day site visit by the IAU Panel of experts in March 2014, once the institutional self-assessment report is completed. The Association will provide regular updates on the progress of all ISAS projects in the IAU e-bulletin and IAU Horizons. Should your institution be interested in re-developing and/ or enhancing its internationalization strategy, please visit the ISAS web pages.
Contact: Ross Hudson, IAU Programme Officer at: r.hudson@iau-aiu.net.
Download the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

The In Focus section of the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3) includes 10 papers focusing on the theme: Student Tuition Fees – perspectives from around the world.
IAU and EAIE Executive Seminar on Internationalization - EAIE Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, September 2013
Co-organized by IAU and EAIE and held during the annual conference of the European Association of International Education (EAIE) in Istanbul, Turkey, this first edition of an invitational Executive Seminar brought together nearly two dozen university presidents from an equal number of nations to debate whether and how higher education internationalization served the interests of diplomacy and to what extent this was an appropriate role for higher education institutions. Several leaders of IAU Member universities attended and in light of their very positive feedback and the general success of the Seminar the two organizations agreed to repeat the initiative in Prague, Czech Republic in September 2014 by organizing a second Executive Seminar during the EAIE conference. Contact: Ross Hudson, IAU Programme Officer at: r.hudson@iau-aiu.net.
Download the magazine IAU Horizons (Vol. 19 No.3).

By Jane Knight. What does the future hold for internationalisation? A distinction can be made between a probable and preferable future. The former takes a reactive approach to the cultural, social, economic, political and academic contexts affecting the international dimensions of higher education. The latter focuses on a strategic, more interventionist approach, ensuring that governments and universities take the necessary steps to shape and monitor the preferred direction of international higher education. More...