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Translating rhetoric into reality: using the internationalization of humanities and social sciences in Chinese universities as the case

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Abstract

This paper contends that the inclusion of meso- and micro-level perspectives has been under exploration in the study of the internationalization of humanities and social sciences, in particular, in a state-mandated system where policy interventions in higher education and knowledge production have typically been aligned with state construction and national development. It argues that institutional and individual responses to state policies on the internationalization of humanities and social sciences should be investigated due to their respective roles in policymaking and implementation. It has, therefore, retrieved recent and historical policy documents during the post-WTO period and collected empirical data from two Chinese universities. A constructivist-interpretivist qualitative approach and a qualitative case study strategy were adopted for this investigation. Based on an in-depth analysis of the empirical data, this paper reveals the gap between the macro-level ambition of achieving outward-oriented diffusion of innovations and the local-level realities, as well as institutional dilemmas and conflicts in facilitating the internationalization.

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Notes

  1. Philosophy and social sciences [zhexue shehui kexue] is the term that was commonly employed in government policy documents in the early days of Communist China, and it has been used interchangeably with HSS.

  2. Higher Education Philosophy and Social Sciences Revitalization Plan.

  3. Plan for Revitalizing Philosophy and Social Sciences of HEIs 2011–2020.

  4. For instance, Outline for Constructing Ideological and Political Curriculum in Higher Education (MoE, 2020a).

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Funding

This study was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (Education) project titled “Comparing higher education internationalization in China and major OECD countries: Policies and practices” (Grant No. BIA180196).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China

    Jie Zheng

  2. College of Education, Zhejiang University, 866 Yuhangtang Rd, Hangzhou, China

    Hantian Wu

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  1. Jie Zheng
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Correspondence to Hantian Wu.

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Zheng, J., Wu, H. Translating rhetoric into reality: using the internationalization of humanities and social sciences in Chinese universities as the case. High Educ 84, 611–628 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-021-00791-8

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