ABSTRACT
The chapter starts from an idea of ‘the international’ as a social construct emerging from the particular socio-cultural and geographic sites represented in course curricula. The author challenges ‘the West vs. the Rest’ discourse commonly used by postcolonial scholars, arguing instead for a need to engage with spatial representations in an empirical manner. Spatial practices are here approached from three perspectives. One section examines teachers’ perception of their curricular practices, highlighting the reflections that might prompt an actor to prioritise American- or British-produced material because this is considered more accessible to an international student audience. A second part looks at the course syllabi compiled for international modules, which reveals a core–periphery structure where a limited number of ‘power geographies’ dominate reading lists at the expense of texts produced in other parts of the world. A final section addresses space as ‘lived experience’, suggesting that students’ learning requires from international educators a willingness to engage with multiple sites and cultures. What also becomes clear is that some students in international education have accepted the core–periphery model, de-selecting indigenous perspectives in favour of global media such as The Guardian or CNN.
