ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes the impact of academic mobility on the construction of knowledge for Chilean scholars who have studied abroad. This analysis is based on 41 semi-structured interviews conducted with Chilean-born scholars in the social sciences and humanities, who accepted jobs at national research universities in Chile after receiving their doctorates abroad. The findings show that knowledge construction within Chilean national research universities is neither linear nor unidimensional. Instead, it occurs as a rhizomatic process in a multidimensional space. The results of this study invite reflection about the impact of academic mobility on the construction of knowledge in academia, by recognizing that while traveling makes scholars think ‘otherwise,’ there is also a process of negotiation that shapes what ‘thinking otherwise’ means after they return to their home country.
