Social Science Space

Mengwei Tu, a lecturer in sociology at East China University of Science and Technology, describes her encounters with two postgraduate students from Pakistan. They highlight both China’s potential to become an attractive destination for international students and the difficulties involved in the internationalization of a society that was isolated from the outside world for much of its recent history.

Despite what he calls the poisonously xenophobic tone of politics and public debates in Britain, our Daniel Nehring still finds it a colorfully multicultural and sometimes, in some places, cosmopolitan society. One place he’d especially like to protect that virtue is in British universities.

When I was a student, I had teachers who spoke about opportunities to study abroad in terms of things like the ability to widen one’s emotional and intellectual horizon.To today’s hardboiled politicians, journalists, and academic managers, these views must seem quaint and laughable.

Over the last ten years I have encountered a range of racist discourse in the teaching environment.The first often emanates from international students who inadvertently make inaccurate generalisations based on racial difference. The second is formed within the seminar room, and emanates from British students towards international students.