Professor Hans de Wit, founding director of the Centre for International Higher Education at Boston College, and the Centre for HE Internationalisation at University Cattolica of Sacro Cuore, and founding member and past president of the European Association of International Education shares with us the development of his interest in international education and the main turns in his professional journey in international education, starting as a master’s student in social anthropology doing research work in Peru. His interest in international development eventually turned into an interest in international cooperation in education, which led him to the idea of establishing a network of people in Europe involved in developing Erasmus programs and exchange agreements, which resulted in the creation of the EAIE already attraction over 600 people at his first event in 1989.
Hans shares how the normative view of the critical importance of cooperation has shaped his work and thinking in international education, focusing increasingly on the need to make internationalisation more inclusive and socially responsible, moving beyond the traditional exclusive attention in the Global North on student mobility and income generation. He shares his concerns on today’s processes of fragmentation and increasing threats to academic freedom… and the rewarding experience of working with colleagues such as Elspeth Jones and Betty Leask in emphasizing the importance of international at home.