IAJU Conference

Conference on International Education of Jesuit Higher Education Institutions

DATE: March 23-25, 2021
LOCATION: Seville, Spain
REIGSTRATION: TBA

The international gathering will seek to continue advancing the collaboration on international education among all universities, colleges and faculties around the world. Vicepresidents, directors and program officers responsible for international relations or global engagement in your institutions are invited to the meeting.
 
The International Conference in Seville will be the second time the group responsible for international relations in Jesuit Higher Education Institutions (JHEI) around the world officially gather. In 2019, under the leadership of a Steering Committee of AUSJAL, AJCU and the Kircher Network, the group met in the Iberoamericana University at Puebla, Mexico.
 
There are important reasons for organizing this International Conference. First, the challenges and opportunities in international education that our JHEI have in common have become crucial after the Covid-19 pandemic. They require to move forward in global collaboration. For instance, the worldwide character of the epidemic has shown the importance of the call made by Fr. General, Arturo Sosa, in Bilbao (2018), to educate our students to be world citizens and leaders who understand and seek the common good for all people and the planet. Second, the internationalization strategies and programs, such as faculty and student mobility, need to be reviewed under a new international scenario characterized by uncertainties on travels acrosscountries, as well as by the increasing use of online education. 
 
Finally, the Assembly of IAJU is going to be held next July 2021 at Boston College. It will be an excellent opportunity for discussing future collaborative projects of collaboration in international education among our universities, colleges and faculties.
 
The Conference will seek the following objectives:

1. to reflect on how the international affairs areas can promote the Universal Apostolic Preferences of the Society of Jesus, especially in light of the new challenges that the Covid-19 poses for the internationalization of JHEI;
2. to exchange good practices and know-how in international education strategies, organization and programs among the institutions;
3. to facilitate networking among the participants by organizing an exhibition where the institutions can show their opportunities for international collaboration and identify possible partners;
4. to review the status of the Magis Exchange Program and identify new areas of collaboration, either at the global level or between some of the regional higher education networks;
5. to discuss the possible strategies and organizational arrangements that could facilitate further global collaboration among the international education officers.