Kevin Kinser will be the second speaker in the Commitment to Internationalization lecture series. His talk, "International University Research Ventures: A Faculty-Focused Agenda for Comprehensive Internationalization," will be on Friday, March 3, at 4:30 p.m. in the Old Capitol Senate Chamber. This lecture continues the conversation about the UI's vision and strategic themes for campus internationalization.
Kinser’s talk will focus on the importance of faculty research and the international collaborations driven by that research to the larger internationalization efforts of globally minded universities.
“At most research universities, faculty-led international collaborations are a common practice. In many disciplines, research is inherently a cross-border activity and scholars work with colleagues in other countries because that is how the best science is done. Yet these natural international partnerships often do not connect to a broader internationalization agenda,” says Kinser. " This means core interests of faculty members in research are largely removed from the dominant campus internationalization efforts focused on international enrollments, student exchange, study abroad, and internationalization of the curriculum. The inability to tie faculty-initiated international research collaborations to a broader university agenda is a major issue for comprehensive internationalization.”
Kinser heads the Department of Education Policy Studies and is senior scientist in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Pennsylvania State University. He is also a senior fellow for internationalization at NAFSA: Association of International Educators. A graduate of Columbia University's Teachers College (New York), Kinser studies non-traditional and alternative higher education, particularly the public policies and organizational structures related to private for-profit institutions and international cross-border higher education. Kinser is co-founder of the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT) which investigates the scope and impact of international branch campuses worldwide. Kinser is the author or editor of four books and more than 70 articles, chapters, and scholarly reports, and he is regularly invited to present his research at conferences in the United States and abroad. Because of his research, Kinser is regularly sought out by national and international media outlets for commentary on for-profit and international higher education. He is currently co-editing a book on U.S. quality assurance called Accreditation on the Edge: Perspectives and Controversies in Higher Education Quality (Johns Hopkins Press).
Read a Q&A with Dr. Kinser about the globalization of higher education.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa- sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Sarolta Petersen in advance at sarolta-petersen@uiowa.edu or (319) 335-3862.