Cross-Cultural Perspectives of International Doctoral Students: “Two-Way” Learning to Further Internationalization in LIS Education

Mehra, Bharat (2005) Cross-Cultural Perspectives of International Doctoral Students: “Two-Way” Learning to Further Internationalization in LIS Education.

Abstract

This juried paper presentation (of 21 slides) was presented in Session 3.4 – LIS Faculty and the Future (Juried paper) on Wednesday, January 12, at the 2005 ALISE Conference, Boston, Massachusetts. A survey among LIS doctoral students who are from countries outside the United States is discussed. The survey investigated issues of internationalisation and observed the studies of the students from a cross-cultural perspective. Research problems are identified; research design is highlighted; and research results are presented. By analyzing the importance of internationalisation of LIS education in the U.S., the research foresees the trend and pinpoints steps toward implementing internationalisation. It concludes that “LIS programs need to pro-actively use their international doctoral students as ‘gatekeeper’ or bridges to ‘other’ cultures and countries in order to extend internationalization”, and advocates international collaborations between universities, public and private sectors, NGOs, and others, from around the world for knowledge sharing and exchange.