Report from FAUBAI This year’s FAUBAI is celebrating its 25th year at its yearly conference with the theme, Brazilian Universities in the Context of the BRICS. With participation from around the world, conference participants are engaging in powerful, challenging and honest dialogue. Among the highlights from my perspective – as someone with a deep connection to Brazil, but who comes from outside are:
The presence of panelists very (inhabited) continent. OK, there’s no participation from Antarctica, but the level of international engagement is a statement of Brazil’s role in the world of international education. Clearly some are trying to sell Brazilian universities on themselves as a location for Science Without Borders students. Of course, there’s more to exchange than that one program.
Leandro Tessler’s presentation on the role of the English language in internationalization. Tessler took on the challenges and myths regarding the use of English. While I, as a Portuguese-speaking North American am enamored with the Brazilian cultures and language, and aware of the cost to my fellow Anglophones of the losses we may experience by not being forced to learn another language, I think Tessler’s rapid-fire call for greater English fluency is important to the future of this country’s participation on the global stage. Later comments were made along the lines of “Does Brazil lose its identity without Portuguese?” Tessler argued that the impact of Brazil’s culture will be greater when more students choose to study here because the program is more accessible.
George Mehaffy’s analysis of the rapid and profound changes happening – and about to happen – in the US academic sphere. Mehaffy looked at the intersection of rising costs and decreasing outcomes at the tertiary level in the United States, and the life-altering impact of technological advances, and predicted profound changes coming over the next few years. Either the universities need to change in powerful ways or they won’t survive, said Mehaffy. Subsequent corridor conversations have asked what the impact will be in Brazil. What do these changes portend for Brazil?
The question of how we collaborate across institutions and countries. As Fanta Aw, representing NAFSA, said, our work together needs to be one of partners learning from each other. Discussions such as the one seeded by Tessler raise the specter of power, in his case focused on language as English as lingua franca. But other conversations also speak to this issue: the professionalization (according to whom?) of the field, the power of the market place and initiatives such as Science without Borders, the relative status of institutions, and so on.
More later!
The presence of panelists very (inhabited) continent. OK, there’s no participation from Antarctica, but the level of international engagement is a statement of Brazil’s role in the world of international education. Clearly some are trying to sell Brazilian universities on themselves as a location for Science Without Borders students. Of course, there’s more to exchange than that one program.
Leandro Tessler’s presentation on the role of the English language in internationalization. Tessler took on the challenges and myths regarding the use of English. While I, as a Portuguese-speaking North American am enamored with the Brazilian cultures and language, and aware of the cost to my fellow Anglophones of the losses we may experience by not being forced to learn another language, I think Tessler’s rapid-fire call for greater English fluency is important to the future of this country’s participation on the global stage. Later comments were made along the lines of “Does Brazil lose its identity without Portuguese?” Tessler argued that the impact of Brazil’s culture will be greater when more students choose to study here because the program is more accessible.
George Mehaffy’s analysis of the rapid and profound changes happening – and about to happen – in the US academic sphere. Mehaffy looked at the intersection of rising costs and decreasing outcomes at the tertiary level in the United States, and the life-altering impact of technological advances, and predicted profound changes coming over the next few years. Either the universities need to change in powerful ways or they won’t survive, said Mehaffy. Subsequent corridor conversations have asked what the impact will be in Brazil. What do these changes portend for Brazil?
The question of how we collaborate across institutions and countries. As Fanta Aw, representing NAFSA, said, our work together needs to be one of partners learning from each other. Discussions such as the one seeded by Tessler raise the specter of power, in his case focused on language as English as lingua franca. But other conversations also speak to this issue: the professionalization (according to whom?) of the field, the power of the market place and initiatives such as Science without Borders, the relative status of institutions, and so on.
More later!
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