Racialization and International Academic Mobility: Mixed Legacies in the Fulbright Program

While international education has undergone significant transformations in recent years, it has been recognized that universities and countries that want to attract students from other countries have to pay attention to their branding and reputation. Racial imaginaries are part of global academic mobility. While discourses of inclusion and diversity are prominent in the marketing of academic exchange programs, their origins and legacy are more complex. The Fulbright Program is the flagship U.S. international exchange program and constitutes one of the most ubiquitous brands in the world of international education. It can be argued that the Fulbright Program is the most visible face of international education in the U.S. However, J. William Fulbright, the architect and namesake of the successful exchange program that celebrated 75 years of operation, has come under scrutiny as higher education in the United States responds to the call for racial justice in higher education and all spheres of social life. Amid the Black Lives Matter movement and other racial justice initiatives, higher education institutions (HEIs) in the United States and local governments have moved in the direction of removing Confederate statues and other symbols, along with the names of slave-owners and of those who supported racial segregation and racism. This webinar focuses on the juxtaposition of the Fulbright Program’s brand and its historical racial legacy.