Excluding knowledge: Internationalization between usefulness and ethics

Abstract

“Internationalization and social practice in the field of higher education in Denmark”As part of a larger project, the set task of the thesis is to explore recognition, acknowledgement and negotiation of knowledge in the international classroom. The project the thesis is part of, “Internationalization and social practice in the field of higher education in Denmark” aims to explore internationalization at Aarhus University as multifaceted and multilevel practices. The larger project draws upon data from five different international programs and combines survey data, observations, interviews and policy research. Besides my project, the larger project researches internationalization history and policy in Denmark, lecturers’ perceptions of international students and pedagogy in the international classroom, and a prosopography of students attending international education in Aarhus. Mythesis focuses particularly on three of the five international master programs.The programs have been selected to cover different disciplines and different approaches to internationalization. Data has been produced through non-participant observations of classroom interactions and semi-structured interviewswith students from the three programs. In the analysis, results from other projects are also included to describe how knowledge-encounters unfold in the international classroom.The project was funded by the Danish Research Council, FKK. I thank FKK for the funding. I also thank all the students and lecturers who agreed to participate in the project and who have been very generous with their time, information, and insights into moments that are valuable to the research, but on occasions very sensitive to the participant