News Highlights from the Going Global Conference 2013

The British Council’s Going Global 2013 conference on "Internationalizing Higher Education" was held in the Dubai World Trade Center last week, and was attended by more than 1,200 higher education policy-makers and experts from around the world. Here are some news highlights from the conference:

Inside Higher Ed reports on a discussion on international branch campuses, where a panel of experts discussed a variety of challenges facing universities that set up branch campuses in other countries or engage in international partnerships. "But until asked during the question period, the panelists didn't say a word about the elephant in the room: differing commitments to academic freedom in the host countries for branch campuses and the Western democracies whose universities are setting up the branches," reporter Scott Jaschik writes.

Higher Education Hubs: Why Do We Want Them?

University World News writes that "significant planning and investment have been devoted to developing higher education hubs around the world, but the reasons that drive host countries to set up areas that can attract foreign branch campuses can be diverse."

University World News also reports on a session that focused on higher education in countries emerging from conflict. "Policy-makers and academic leaders from Afghanistan, Iraq and the Democratic Republic of the Congo used the Going Global 2013 platform to call for more international collaboration and support to help rebuild higher education systems ravaged by conflict."