Internationalization of universities: the need to navigate in foreign waters

Abstract

Universities around the world are increasingly interested in propagating and receiving knowledge not only to and from outside their walls but also to and from outside of their national borders.This phenomenon of interchange between institutions in different countries has become known as internationalization and many people regard this as having immense importance for full development of teaching.Building links among researchers and knowledge-shapers from different parts of the world is extremely beneficial, since this not only makes it possible to exchange experiences, thus serving as mutual assistance with savings in time and resources in developing projects that are already in progress, but also provides impetus towards promoting and developing ideas that are completely new, emanating from these encounters.In the view of many people, internationalization of universities is, in a certain manner, a return to their origins. As Krawczyk puts it: "It can be seen that originally, during the medieval period, universities had a strong international nature and that as a consequence of construction of modern nation-states, they underwent a process of nationalization. "1 Nonetheless, the objectives and the instruments through which this process has resumed its importance are noticeably different.The motivation for the present phase of internationalization is closely related to the concept created by Slaughter and Leslie that is known as "academic capitalism", in which researchers and university administrators are induced to participate in increasingly competitive environments, for fundraising of any nature. It is also worth citing an important initiative from the federal government: the creation of the Science Without Borders program, which envisages awarding 100,000 bursaries for interchanges of undergraduate and postgraduate students, along with funding to attract researchers from abroad who wish to settle in Brazil or establish partnerships with Brazilian researchers.