The Idea of an International University Reshaped by Students: An Ethnographic Study in a Chinese University

Abstract

This paper presents how students reshaped the idea of an international university offered to them. The findings derive from participant observation ethnographic fieldwork carried out at Fudan University in China. The analysis proves that the idea of an “international university” offered to Fudan University students was double-edged in the sense that it both cultivated and screened international talent. Students reshaped their university by manipulating or “twisting” the screening process when applying for short-term study abroad programs, on the one hand, and creating cultivating “devices” within the university, namely student-initiated associations on the other hand. The findings of this paper add a new aspect to the idea of the “international university” from students’ perspective and turn the spotlight on students as active builders of their university.

Keywords

international university / international talent / student / studying abroad / student association

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2018 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany