Credit: Fatal Flaw Literary Magazine I recently had a video chat with a US secondary colleague who expressed frustration over how hard it is to work with education agents in Vietnam, many of whom seem mostly concerned with the amount of the commission they will receive for each student. Since this particular high school's commission … Continue reading Guiding Students to the Highest Bidder
Author: maavn
This Land is Whose Land?
This unattributed meme about sums it up. This famous song by Woody Guthrie recently popped into my head . It's a catchy tune that I liked it as a child before I learned that much of US history, which parallels that of my family history, including the good, the bad, and the ugly, has been … Continue reading This Land is Whose Land?
2022 SEVIS by the Numbers Report: Vietnam
While the periodic SEVIS updates, sometimes monthly, other times quarterly, contain real-time statistics, the annual reports present cumulative totals. According to the 2022 report (PDF download), the total number of SEVIS records for active F-1 and M-1 students was 1,362,157 in 2022, an increase of 10.1% from 2021 and the largest number since 2019. There … Continue reading 2022 SEVIS by the Numbers Report: Vietnam
Fulbright University Vietnam Board Member Shows His True Colors
It may seem, at first blush, an unlikely connection: Leon Botstein, the president of Bard, one of the country’s most progressive colleges, and Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced billionaire accused of sexually abusing teenage girls. Leon Botstein has led Bard College for nearly five decades. Credit: Richard Beaven for The New York Times Leon Botstein (LB), … Continue reading Fulbright University Vietnam Board Member Shows His True Colors
The Toad That Lived to See Another Day
One of her/his distant cousins. Recently, a rather well-fed toad found its way into my car, a first since I began driving a lifetime ago. I was transporting a couple of plants and trees to my Hanoi office and the critter must have been hiding in one of the pots. When my wife came to … Continue reading The Toad That Lived to See Another Day
Not All Phở is Created Equal; That’s Phở Sure!
Phở Thìn's Hanoi Location It's not often that I write a restaurant review. I think the last one was about a hole-in-the-wall noodle shop in downtown Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), long since relocated to the suburbs, that had the best wonton noodles I've ever had. This one is about Phở Thìn, a veritable Hanoi … Continue reading Not All Phở is Created Equal; That’s Phở Sure!
“When HE internationalisation operates as an industry”
There is a facade of higher education internationalisation that paints an idealistic picture of providing students with a global experience, stressing collaboration in research and strengthening ties among universities worldwide. Image: iStock This spot-on article by Philip G. Altbach and Hans de Wit asserts that internationalization primarily refers to revenue generation through international student recruitment. … Continue reading “When HE internationalisation operates as an industry”
Reflections on a Dirty Industry
No, not that industry, which is literally dirty and a major contributor to global climate change. I'm referring to international student recruitment, which is often a figuratively dirty industry. A US higher education colleague who has been around the block a few times recently asked me this question: "At the risk of sounding like a … Continue reading Reflections on a Dirty Industry
“Is Gun Violence Scaring Off International Students?”
Image: iStock The author of this 10 April 2023 Inside Higher Ed article requested an interview with me because he had read some blog posts and a 2022 University World News article I wrote about gun violence and international student recruitment. The result is one reason why I ask to see a draft, as I … Continue reading “Is Gun Violence Scaring Off International Students?”
Working for the Man: Part II
Think of this post as a follow-up to the original, which appeared in August 2020. In that post I described some of the part-time jobs that I held as undergraduate as a way of supplementing my income. Mainly, they were rich - figuratively speaking - learning experiences. (For many, they are way to make a … Continue reading Working for the Man: Part II
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