The authors in this volume explore how American higher education gets localized though curricular adaptation in Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East, thoroughly challenging claims of uniform cultural imperialism and neoliberalism. The rich case studies presented here, often based on first-hand teaching experiences, are a unique and welcome addition to the scholarship on globalized higher education.

Neha Vora, Lafayette College

This book makes an important contribution to the growing literature on the spread of American higher educational models and institutions throughout the world. Rather than theorizing abstractly about the meaning and significance of the internationalization of curricula, academic personnel and institutions, this volume provides a view from the inside out. Academics who have confronted the pedagogical and political-sociological issues associated with higher education transplantation write perceptively about their experiences. As a result, this collection provides the reader with a richly critical analysis of the promises and pitfalls associated with our present moment of higher educational transformation.

John Willoughby, American University, Co-author of Higher Education Revolutions in the Gulf: Globalization and Institutional Viability

Mohanalakshmi Rajakumar’s edited volume takes a much-needed comparative look at the internationalization of western higher education, investigating its challenges and opportunities through both theoretical lenses and detailed pedagogical interventions. In particular, the collected essays dive deeply into the experiences of American universities in the Middle East, with three case studies of Qatar’s Education City alongside contributions from the American Universities of Beirut and Kuwait. Full of provocative and unique insights, Western Higher Education in Global Contexts invites the reader to better understand the interactive negotiations between the imported universities and the local communities they are meant to serve.

Jocelyn Sage Mitchell, assistant professor in residence at Northwestern University, Qatar