International Scholars Make Themselves at Home at IHE - 2011

Elisabeth Hughes

In 2011, the IHE continued to expand its global connections by hosting international scholars from Norway, the Netherlands, Finland, Korea, China, and the United Kingdom

Early in January, Professor Peter Maassen from the University of Oslo, who directs HEDDA (Higher Education Development Association), returned to the Institute to give a presentation titled “The Transformation of Higher Education: Beyond the Global Script Perspective.” At the end of the month, Professor Jürgen Enders, director of CHEPS (Centre for Education Policy Studies) at the University of Twente, the Netherlands, also returned to the Institute to give a talk on “The Transformation of Higher Education and Research in the Knowledge Society.”

Three scholars from the U.K. were scheduled to visit the IHE this year. Dr. Rajani Naidoo, Director of the Doctor of Business Administration in Higher Education Management program at the University of Bath, gave a presentation on “Higher Education and Hegemonic Rivalry in the 21st Century.” Professor Roger Brown, Co-Director for the Centre of Higher Education Research Development (CHERD) at Liverpool Hope University, was a discussant at the September meeting of the executive Ed.D. program, and Professor John Taylor, of the University of Liverpool’s School of Management is scheduled to give a talk in September on comparative higher education issues. Dr. Taylor is also interested in pursuing a partnership between his university and the Institute.

Sociologist, Dr. Ilkka Kauppinen, a senior assistant researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland, completed his Fulbright research grant at the Institute and then received an additional grant from the Academie of Finland to return for the month of June to work with Dr. Charles Mathies and doctoral student Leasa Weimer, students of Professor Sheila Slaughter. Dr. Kauppinen chose to come to the IHE because of Dr. Slaughter and her work on academic capitalism, and because the Institute emphasizes interdisciplinary work. While at the IHE he has written articles on the economic status of knowledge in higher education, integration of higher education and transnational R & D and production networks. He returned to Finland to edit a book on French social theories, but will look back fondly on his time in Athens. Dr. Kauppinen said that he will miss the friendliness of the people, the vibrant music scene, the weather, boiled peanuts and Terrapin Rye Beer. However, he will still be around IHE alumni. Dr. Mathies has a position at the University of Jyväskylä to establish an IR department and Ms. Weimer is spending the 2011-12 academic year there on a Fulbright grant and an American- Scandinavian Foundation grant to support her dissertation research.

In August, Dr. Kiyong Byun, associate professor and vice-director of the Higher Education Policy Research Institute at Korea University, joined the Institute for 6 months as a visiting scholar to conduct research into higher education in the U.S.

Finally, in early September, Qian He, a Chinese doctoral student of Professor Baocun Liu of Beijing Normal University, who hosted the Ed.D. students in China this summer, was awarded a China Government Scholarship and will join the Institute for the 2011-12 academic year