Luzia Ferreira Santos

The scoping review conducted in the context of the project Internationalization in the Digital Transformation – INDISTRA, analyses 45 scientific journal articles published in English between June 2017 and June 2022. The study draws on international scientific literature to trace the evidence available on the intersections between covid-driven digitization and its systematic integration into the internationalization strategies of higher education institutions. The focus of the scoping review lies on teaching and learning, cooperation, administration, and decision-making processes.

In the field of internationalization of higher education, the establishment of joint programs is described as 'particularly problematic', due to the strong coordination efforts required. Yet, in a context of growing internationalization and digitalization, the online delivery of such programs is 'not only possible but desirable' (Joughin et al., 2022, p.829). At the HERSS Summer School, I discussed the prospects of investigating the setting up and implementation of digitally assisted-joint programs between German and Brazilian universities as the thematic focus of my Ph.D. research.

The resurgence of all sorts of anti-globalization movements has produced huge repercussions in society, and institutions of higher education alike ( (Brøgger, 2021; Brooks, 2022; Habib, 2022; van der Vende, 2021). Knowing that the future of higher education internalization relies strongly on the way countries’ cross-border exchange will evolve (Lee, 2021), my participation in the Course The New geopolitics of Higher Education was aimed at reflecting on the research questions guiding the INDISTRA project (Internationalization and the Digital Transformation) in the light of current geopolitical debates; in particular, how the rise of neo-nationalisms is shaping new discourses and practices in higher education.