Rashed Al-Haque is a PhD candidate at the Faculty of Education at Western University, Canada, working under the supervision of Dr. Marianne Larsen. Originally from Bangladesh and having grown up in Kuwait, Rashed moved to Canada in 2006. He holds a Bachelors of Science Honours and a Masters of Education in Cultural and Policy Studies from Queen’s University, Canada. His research interests include the university internationalization, globalization of higher education, citizenship and immigration, comparative and international education, global citizenship education in post-secondary contexts, and leadership practices with respect to university internationalization.

My doctoral thesis examines the relationship between citizenship and immigration policies and the internationalization of higher education in Canada. Canada provides a unique place to conduct my study, where education is a provincial responsibility whereas citizenship and immigration is a federal mandate. With no concrete federal policy governing the internationalization of Canadian universities, individual institutions are tasked with creating their own internationalization strategies. However, discrepancy and mismatch between national, provincial and institutional polices may thwart university efforts to recruit and retain international students and ultimately derail institutional internationalization efforts. Using critical policy analysis and actor-network theory, I examine how citizenship and immigration policies intersect, how these policies are connected, how people and practices are assembled around these policies, and how university administration, staff, and students are affected by the evolving nature of both immigration and citizenship and the internationalization aspirations of the university. Overall, my research agenda touches on themes pertaining to the internationalization of higher education in an era of globalization and transnationalism, the intersection of federal and provincial governments in Canada, and immigration and citizenship in an age to increased global mobility.

Marianne Larsen, PhD

Supervisor