Internationalization and University Curriculum

With the accelerated interconnectedness of the world, many universities have realized that their graduates will certainly be involved in rising levels of global interaction. Therefore, international education becomes one of their development strategies in order to prepare students to operate successfully in an increasingly international and multicultural world of work. Although internationalization of higher education becomes a strategic theme in current research on higher education, but the definitions of the term and the routes of implementation are still blurring. Curriculum thinking as a basis for developing internationalization was lacking. The author argues that internationalization requires a shift in the content and style of teaching and learning and should be incorporated into curriculum. We propose that adding international components to college general education curriculum would achieve dual effects of internationalization and general education. Forging multicultural environments by mobility programmes and internationalizing teaching and learning would promote international education. The irreplaceable role of foreign languages both in general education and internationalization, particularly in the development of intercultural competence (ICC), is argued for. An empirical study of the general education curriculum of UESTC is examined in global and intercultural dimensions and serves as an example in this paper.