International week 2023 at the FU - 1 week of internationalization
For one week, the so-called Freie Universität Berlin (FU) is all about internationalization.
The first question the FU asks itself for its international week 2023 is:
"What does "internationalization" mean for Freie Universität?"[1]
We would like to answer this question here.
Many German universities and colleges, including the FU, have internationalization strategies that mostly focus on economic goals, such as achieving greater excellence and competitiveness (for more information look at the goals set by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF))[2]. The FU's Internationalization Strategy 2025 also speaks of positioning the FU in the "global education and research competition" [3]. The predominantly economic motivation for internationalization puts important rationales of internationalization, such as joint cooperation for more global justice, equal scientific exchange and the formation of a pluralistic knowledge society without Western dominance, in the background.
There are 28 events taking place during the international week 2023. 14 of these events deal with how members of the FU can go abroad [4]. Hardly any of the events deal with the challenges faced by international students who (want to) study at FU and how these could be addressed. Therefore, the question arises:
WHO and WHAT does the FU actually mean when talking of international mobility?[5]
Albert Gouaffo, a well-known Cameroonian scientist [6], addressed the difficulties that international students and scientists from countries of the Global South (here explicitly Cameroon) encounter when they travel to Germany for studies or for a research stay. He talked about these issues in a conference on the importance of transcontinental mobility last Monday, 19/06/23, hosted by the Heinrich Böll Foundation. They include the difficult and degrading visa process, which is not always successful, the lack of recognition of academic degrees or language certificates, and much more. Other scientists who participated in the event also reported on these problems after his talk.
These problems are not unknown and manifest in racist practices and institutions such as the Studienkolleg[7] with its Feststellungsprüfung [8] and the fee-based application system uni-assist[9].
What is the Studienkolleg? The Studienkolleg is advertised as a "one-year school-based preparation" and means full-day classes for five days a week (see [8]). The Studienkolleg is a prerequisite for those who want to study at a German university and whose country’s Abitur (A-levels) is not recognized by Germany and its universities. Despite their qualification to enter university, they are obliged to spend a year in a kind of German upper secondary school, and then take the Feststellungsprüfung, a kind of German Abitur. Meanwhile, this time-consuming and costly way does not guarantee a place at university afterwards.
What is uni-assist? International students who already completed a bachelor's degree abroad and want to apply for a master's degree in Germany must apply through Uni-assist if their country's bachelor's degree is not recognized as equivalent to the German degree. Uni-assist is a private company with which state universities throughout Germany cooperate. Uni-assist's "services" include: "We check whether your certificates meet the general requirements
for university study in Germany. We convert your grades into the German grading system."[9.1]. An application costs 75 euros.
In the last statement of the AStA FU on the International Week 2022, Uni assist and other discriminatory barriers like the Numerus Clausus (NC) are further highlighted [10].
In addition, the last statement sheds light on the exclusionary practice of imposing high German language requirements on international students. For example, even for English-language degree programs a level of German is required. The AStA had a discussion with Dr. Herbert Grieshop (Head of International Affairs IV) on this issue following its demands last year. Mr. Grieshop gave verbal assurances that in order to study a German-language degree program at the FU, international students prospectively would have to demonstrate only a B2 rather than a C1 level of German. Unfortunately, this is still not visible on the FU website and we demand that the FU adjusts the information accordingly [11].
Another problem that arises in the context of language requirements is that many language certificates are not recognized. For example, Dr. Gouaffo reported that as a professor of German literature and culture, he cannot issue German language certificates for students that are recognized by Germany. Instead, Cameroonian students must take costly language courses at the Goethe Institute. This point, as well as the system of uni-assist, show how the discriminatory practice of not recognizing degrees and certificates is not only racist exclusionary politics, but also economically profitable for German companies.
So what are we missing in the international week 2023?
Basically everything!
Where are the events that address these discriminatory practices?
Events which discuss how powerful institutions like universities can be more supportive and approachable in visa processes of their students and scholars.
Events where racist practices, such as the lack of recognition of school and academic degrees and its consequences (Studien-Kolleg, uni-assist, etc.) are discussed and those affected can describe their experiences and problems and the exchange of ideas enables to remove these barriers.
Events that discuss the logic of language requirements and their consequences - the exclusion of many students and their high cost.
Events dealing with the perspectives of international students at the FU. What bureaucratic problems do students often face (for example when getting visa extensions) and how can students be supported after graduation? What opportunities are there for international students following their studies at the FU? What options are there to pursue a doctor?
Events that address structural racism and other discrimination and exclusions faced by international students at FU to provide space for exchange and joint solidarity and organizing. Meanwhile, responsible parties of FU should be present to listen and effectively address these issues afterwards and not continue to ignore them.
Events that ask the question of who is not there. As to say:
Which people are not considered in the internationalization strategy?
Whose mobility is not understood as international - within the paradigm of excellent performance and competitiveness?
Who doesn't have access to FU and its international program?
(How) are students supported who had a study place at the FU but whose visa was rejected and who may already have had to pay high costs?
This brings us to the fundamental question (for more general information on this see [5]):
Does the way internationalization is currently pursued and practiced at the FU reinforce inequalities?
And how can those be explained and challenged so that internationalization at FU enables more global justice instead of reproducing and reinforcing global inequalities.
The university is not simply a context embedded in unjust structures that cannot do anything about discriminatory visa practices and regulations on recognition of degrees etc. - on the contrary: the internationalization strategy proves that the university is an active actor that shapes the circumstances of international scientific exchange.
Therefore, we demand from the FU:
An end to their discriminatory, exclusive and racist internationalization policies:
- the recognition of foreign scholastic and scientific degrees, as well as language certificates, in order to enable equal and respectful international exchange, without insisting on the superiority of degrees from German institutions. This results in the demand to abolish the Studienkolleg and uni- assist. This means that the FU actively advocates for their abolition and does not further participate in using the system itself by instead allowing the same direct application to their university for all students.
- we demand more support for international students at the FU in the run-up to their studies, during their studies and afterwards (e.g. when applying for visas, extending visas and subsequent professional or academic careers), as well as a reduction of racist and other discriminatory practices experienced by international students on campus.
- we demand, solidary support for people on the move through giving out social scholarships by the FU for all students on the move, offering them dignified accommodation and giving them free access without major hurdles to the full study program.
- we demand the abolition of the numerus clausus.
- we demand that the German language level for admission to degree programs at the FU be lowered and that there are more degree programs accessible without a German language requirement.
- instead of language requirements, we demand support for international students in the form of sufficient language course offerings. In addition, time frames for exams and homework deadlines must be adjusted for students for whom German is not a first language.
- we demand that the university supports the permanent stay of its international students by actively supporting visa processes and providing more contact persons and offices.
- we demand support for (potential) students who receive a study place at FU but whose visa has been rejected.
Teaching without discrimination:
- we stand behind the demands of the campaign "Rechte Ideologie Exmatrikulieren" (exmatriculate right ideology) [12]. We demand that students have a say in who teaches at the FU. We demand more effective sensibilisation of lecturers and students to various forms of discrimination.
- the university must position itself transparently against any form of discrimination and neo-fascist ideology. The university must critically review its history and the history of the Dahlem campus. The Henry Ford Bau must be renamed immediately.
- in cases of discrimination in teaching, the university must act without hesitation and stand on the side of those affected.
Certainly, there are many more issues, problems and demands that need to be addressed here.
Therefore, please participate and anonymously write down your topics here.
We will publish the joint demands and proposals on behalf of the student body and forward them to the university management.
[1] https://www.fu-berlin.de/international/news-events/dates/2023-internationalweek.html
[2] https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/de/europa-und-die-welt/vernetzung-weltweit/internationalisierungsstrategie/internationalisierungsstrategie.html
[4] https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/sites/internationalweek/termine/index.html
[5] Kyoko Shinozaki and Annette von Alemann address this question more generally for internationalization strategies at German universities in their paper: „
‚Knowledge brokers'transnational?the role of universities in the production of 'international excellence' and resulting intersectional inequalities" after
[6] https://albert-gouaffo.com/
[7] https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/studienkolleg/index.html
[8] https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/studienkolleg/feststellungspruefung/index.html
[9]https://www.fu-berlin.de/studium/bewerbung/portale/uni-assist/index.html; https://my.uni-assist.de/?lang=de
[9.1] https://www.uni-assist.de/faq/kosten-zahlen/
[10] https://padlite.astafu.de/node/544
[11] https://www.fu-berlin.de/studium/international/studium_fu/deutschkenntnisse/index.html
[12] https://astafu.de/sites/default/files/2022-01/Rechte%20Ideologie%20Exmatrikulieren.pdf