Seminar on Rethinking Internationalisation in Higher Education for Global Citizenship

NUIG and Suas are hosting a seminar on Rethinking Internationalisation in Higher Education for Global Citizenship. The seminar will be held at the Carmelite Centre, 56 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 on Monday 22August, 4:30pm – 6:30pm, and links with the theme of the European Conference on Educational Research 2016, which takes place in Dublin from 23 – 26 August, in exploring ways to learn and work across different language divides, different disciplines and different types of knowledge and practices.

The aim of the seminar is to promote dialogue, sharing and collaboration between researchers and practitioners in the area of Global Citizenship Education. It will focus on the challenges and opportunities that the internationalisation of higher education (IoHE) agenda poses for Global Citizenship Education and will touch on the opportunity to contribute to work on promoting gender and valuing of diverse identities in the context of rising identity-based politics. 

What we now term 'internationalisation of higher education' is a phenomenon that has emerged over the last 25 years or so, referring to the process of integrating an international, intercultural, or global dimension into the purpose, functions or delivery of post-secondary education, in order to enhance the quality of education and research for all students and staff, and to make a meaningful contribution to society. 

Internationalisation is now driving the reform of higher education. It has become a broad umbrella term that covers many dimensions including credit and degree mobility for students, academic exchange and the search for global talent, curriculum development and learning outcomes, franchise operations and branch campuses, for both cooperation and competition. While the agenda has significant potential benefits (especially its potential to make higher education more inclusive and equitable), it also carries significant risks. 

IoHE is being challenged by increasingly profound social, economic and cultural issues, such as the financial crisis, unfavourable demographic trends, hostile reactions to immigration and ethnic and religious tensions. While these challenges represent a threat, they also raise our awareness of the importance of IoHE in developing a meaningful response. There is now a major challenge and opportunity for Global Citizenship Education to position itself as a pillar of ethical or responsible internationalisation and to make a meaningful contribution to work on promoting gender and valuing of diverse identities in the context of rising identity-based politics.

Key questions are: 

  • How can we leverage the internationalisation of higher education for Global Citizenship in Ireland and beyond?
  • Where are the spaces for Global Citizenship Education in Higher Education, and how can we make these more inclusive? 
  • How do we, as educators and researchers, respond to the rise of identity-based politics and increasing intolerance and violence?
  • What values, competences, action and activism do we need to encourage, and how? 

Join them for what promises to be a rich and challenging conversation amongst a diverse group of researchers, educators and others interested in global justice issues, global citizenship and the role of higher education. The conversation will include Mona Mehta and Clarissa Jordao who are doing exciting work in the areas of teaching, research and activism in India and Brazil.

The event is free but you must register in advance with  joanne@suas.ie

About the facilitators:  

Clarissa Menezes Jordão holds a PhD in Literary Education at Universidade Federal do Paraná in Brazil. She currently teaches EFL at undergraduate level and Applied Linguistics at graduate level at UFPR, Brazil. Her main research interests are in the areas of teacher education, critical literacy in EFL and post-structuralist theories on language and meaning-making. 

Mona Mehta holds a PhD. in Development Studies and has been working on women's rights and gender equality for many years with Oxfam GB across different parts of the world. She coordinated the We Can Campaign that aimed to transform social attitudes around violence against women. She is currently engaged in programmes aimed at mobilising young people to counter intolerance and violence based on identities (gender, religion, ethnicity, race etc). 

Dr Su-ming Khoo teaches and researches at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her interests include postcolonial development studies, public advocacy and activism, human rights and the ethics of higher education.

Joanne Malone works for Suas Educational Development, which aims to support students to progressively engage with global justice issues through an integrated programme of non-formal learning activities that is currently delivered in 7 higher education institutions in Ireland. 

May 2, 2025
Dates: Thursday 10 July,10.00am-6.00pm and Friday 11 July, 10.00am-3.00pm Location: An Tairseach, Wicklow IDEA is thrilled to open applications for our second iteration of the IDEA's Lab. In this first of its kind residential Lab, we will create space where members can bring their ideas for projects and try out new planning and design methods. Participants will have the opportunity to work on an idea from scratch to (almost) finish with the support of expert trainers and learn through group exchange in a welcoming and inspiring setting. Participants will come out of the training with: An early project design proofed, tested and built through group feedback, iteration, trialling and support. New approaches in designing innovative projects they can apply to their workplace Headspace and time to work on the design of an innovative project A chance to actively learn through group exchange and strengthen the sense of an innovative community of practice in Ireland How? Please email anya@ideaonline.ie to request an application form. Requesting an application form does not commit you to applying. The deadline for returning application form (including organisational sign off letter) is Friday 23 May, midnight . You will find further details in the application form. Participants must register as a team of 2min.- 4 max. Participants without a team member will be asked to pair up with other individual participants or find a partner outside their organisation. Cost : This training is funded by Irish Aid at the Department of Foreign Affairs and offered at a reduced rate. This training is only available to IDEA members. Non-IDEA members can participant as part of an IDEA member team. Fees for members of IDEA is €50  Irish Aid is the Government’s overseas development programme which supports partners working in some of the world’s poorest countries. Irish Aid also supports global citizenship education in Ireland to encourage learning and public engagement with global issues the ideas, opinions and comments expressed in this training are entirely the responsibility of its author(s) and do not necessarily represent or reflect DFA policy. Timeline: Applications open: 07 May Applications close: 23 May, midnight Preparatory session with trainer (30min, online): Mid June Lab arrival: Where possible we advise arrival on Wednesday 09 July in the evening. Accommodation and food will be provided from 09 July, 5.00pm - 11 July, 3.00pm Lab: 10 July,10.00am-6.00pm. 11 July, 10.00am-3.00pm Please don’t hesitate to get in touch at anya@ideaonline.ie if any of the above pose a barrier to your participation, or if you have any other questions.
April 29, 2025
Wednesday 18 June, 10.00am - 4.00pm Wynn’s Hotel, Abbey Street Lower, Dublin 1
April 7, 2025
Last week, IDEA hosted the second webinar from our 2025 series, ‘Exploring Contemporary Crises and Issues through Global Citizenship Education, ' focusing on Palestine. If you missed out, you can watch the full video below!