Unit introduction

Welcome to the unit on the important opportunities that are emerging as international partnerships in higher education enter a new era. These opportunities reflect the increased attention that higher education institutions (HEIs) are now paying to international collaboration, not only in the United States and India, but across the world as a whole. International partnerships are becoming increasingly central to internationalization programs everywhere, and partnership formats, activities, and guiding principles are rapidly evolving.

The result is a new collaborative landscape. This landscape continues some U.S.-India partnership models of the past but also offers new possibilities. Refreshed understandings of trust, reciprocity, equity, and ethical praxis lead to even greater mutual energy and impact. The range of regions, institutions, student types, and academic disciplines engaging in partnerships is also widening. This unit explores such partnership trends with the goal of stimulating thinking on how U.S. and Indian HEIs can take advantage of the opportunities and disciplinary collaborations now possible.

Facilitator bios

Susan Buck Sutton is a Fellow at the Institute of International Education’s Center on International Partnerships, with 40 years’ experience as faculty and chief international administrator at two U.S. institutions: Bryn Mawr College and Indiana University. She has been President of AIEA, and officer or board member at NAFSA, ACE, AAC&U, IAU, the Forum on Education Abroad, and several other organizations. Sutton has published five books and over 70 articles, including Developing Strategic International Partnerships: Models for Initiating and Sustaining Innovative Institutional Linkages (2011). She is particularly interested in mutually beneficial approaches to international academic partnerships and has given workshops on this topic in over 25 countries.

Dr. Mousumi Mukherjee is Associate Professor & Deputy Director leading the Centre for Comparative and Global Education under the aegis of the International Institute for Higher Education Research and Capacity Building, O.P. Jindal Global University. She has been also appointed as Honorary Senior Fellow of the Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne. She is a distinguished Fulbright alumna with 20+ years of experience in the higher education sector of India, United States, and Australia. She is the Vice-President of Research and Partnerships Development of the STAR Scholars Network, an Executive Committee Member of the Indian Ocean Comparative Education Society (IOCES) and a Research Standing Committee Member of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES).

Welcome message from facilitators