Global universities in local contexts: fostering critical self-reflection and citizenship at branch campuses

Abstract

There seems to be a race in the global age for universities to be associated with specific attributes: university marketing literature insists on institutions being ‘global’, promising to educate the citizens and leaders of tomorrow thanks to key and transferable skills such as problem solving, research‐based education, independent learning and the ever popular yet rarely defined ‘critical thinking’. Faculties are pressed to demonstrate their progress in the internationalisation of their curriculum, and the trend is fast growing that sees western institutions opening branch campuses abroad, and developing their international network and partnerships.