Borderless Higher Education For Refugees

Winner of the 2022 CIES Jackie Kirk Outstanding Book Award Higher education is increasingly recognized as crucial for the livelihoods of refugees and displaced populations caught in emergencies and protracted crises, to enable them to engage in contemporary, knowledge-based, global society. This book tells the story of the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) project which delivers tuition-free university degree programs into two of the largest protracted refugee camps in the world, Dadaab and Kakuma in Kenya. Combining a human rights approaches, critical humanitarianism and a concern with gender relations and intersecting inequalities, the book proposes that higher education can provide refugees with the possibility of staying put or returning home with dignity. Written by academics based in Canada, Kenya, Somalia and the USA, as well as NGO workers and students from the camps, the book demonstrates how North-South and South-South collaborations are possible and indeed productive.

Higher education is increasingly recognized as crucial for the livelihoods of refugees and displaced populations caught in emergencies and protracted crises, to enable them to engage in contemporary, knowledge-based, global society. This book tells the story of the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) project which delivers tuition-free university degree programs into two of the largest protracted refugee camps in the world, Dadaab and Kakuma in Kenya. Combining a human rights approaches, critical humanitarianism and a concern with gender relations and intersecting inequalities, the book proposes that higher education can provide refugees with the possibility of staying put or returning home with dignity. Written by academics based in Canada, Kenya, Somalia and the USA, as well as NGO workers and students from the camps, the book demonstrates how North-South and South-South collaborations are possible and indeed productive.

"Higher education is increasingly recognized as crucial for the livelihoods of refugees and displaced populations caught in emergencies and protracted crises, to enable them to engage in contemporary, knowledge-based, global society. This book tells the story of the Borderless Higher Education for Refugees (BHER) project which delivers tuition-free university degree programs into two of the largest protracted refugee camps in the world, Dadaab and Kakuma in Kenya. Combining a human rights approaches, critical humanitarianism and a concern with gender relations and intersecting inequalities, the book proposes that higher education can provide refugees with the possibility of staying put or returning home with dignity. Written by academics based in Canada, Kenya, Somalia and the USA, as well as NGO workers and students from the camps the book demonstrates how North-South and South-South collaborations are possible and indeed productive."--

This edited volume addresses critical issues surrounding higher education access for students of refugee backgrounds. It combines a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, experiences and expectations of refugee students, as well as some of the institutional frameworks that facilitate their access to higher education. Following a critical discussion of the notion of ‘integration’, the team of authors who are made up of academics and refugee students critically investigate higher education as an objective of as well as a means to greater inclusion and integration.

This book discusses digital learning opportunities in higher education for refugees with different educational, social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Based on findings from practical studies and research projects from several countries, the book highlights the numerous challenges when it comes to the successful integration of refugees into higher education. These challenges arise at both the individual and the institutional level. The contributions included in this book show how these challenges can be effectively met using digital teaching-learning platforms. The work thus offers a comprehensive insight into the opportunities online-based learning platforms offer regarding the successful integration of refugees into higher education Overall, the research presented in this volume is relevant for political stakeholders, university practitioners in the field of migration research, university research, and online and digital learning.

This study aims to gain an understanding of higher education interventions taking place in refugee camps around the world that implement hybrid online and on-site models. Through an archival, database study, this uncovers the most salient characteristics of 8 international interventions (Australian Catholic University, Borderless Higher Education for Refugees, Jesuit Worldwide Learning: Higher Education at the Margins, InZone, Kepler, Mosaik, Global Border Studies, and Education for Humanity) in regard to logistics, academics, technology, and pedagogy. The study found multiple ways in which these programs seek to increase inclusion and success of refugee learners. These techniques include (1) free tuition, (2) nutrition, security, and transportation accommodations, (3) gender equity provisions, (4) course accreditation, (5) preparatory courses, (6) student support and development, (7) durable solutions related to employment, (8) tailored curricula, (9) flexibility of course structure, (10) critical thinking & reflection, (11) hybrid, adaptable, and portable course delivery, (12) on-site technology support, and (13) accommodations related to electricity and internet connectivity.

Refugees and Higher Education provides a cross-disciplinary lens on one American university’s approach to studying the policies, practices, and experiences associated with the higher education of refugee background students.

Until 2015, no refugees in Malaysia were able to access higher education, and they were unable to attend government schooling. Since then, six private higher education institutions have agreed to open their doors to refugees for the first time. This book contains stories from this small group of successful refugees, who have managed to receive higher education in a country that neither recognizes that they exist nor offers them even basic education. It identifies the factors that aided their success, and charts the challenges that they and their communities have faced. The authors present each story, based on interviews, within the context of the individual’s background and nation of origin. These stories are framed by a discussion of the situation that refugees face in accessing education globally, explaining how these stories and the methodologies used for this study are universal.

This edited volume addresses critical issues surrounding higher education access for students of refugee backgrounds. It combines a variety of theoretical and methodological perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, experiences and expectations of refugee students, as well as some of the institutional frameworks that facilitate their access to higher education. Following a critical discussion of the notion of ‘integration’, the team of authors who are made up of academics and refugee students critically investigate higher education as an objective of as well as a means to greater inclusion and integration.

This book provides a critical appraisal of the participation of students from refugee backgrounds in higher education, exploring how global discourses about forced migration play out for students in terms of accessing, participating, and succeeding in higher education.