Destined for Asia: hospitality and emotions in international student mobilities

ABSTRACT

This paper introduces a relatively novel theoretical approach to investigate cross border student mobilities in East Asia, a region growing in importance as a provider of international education. It does so by bringing Sara Ahmad’s writings on the sociality of emotions, with Jacques Derrida’s analyses of hospitality, We draw on empirical data from a cross national study to explore the emotions that shape student decisions to choose East Asian study destinations. By problematising the gift of the scholarship, using Derridean understandings of hospitality, we reveal the limits of contemporary forms of international education. Reflecting on histories of Asia-focused student mobilities, the paper highlights the entanglements of hostility and hospitality, and the inseparability of hosts and guests. It is this realisation that will enable ethical, non-exploitative forms of education.

KEYWORDS:

• International student mobilities
• East Asia
• emotions
• hospitality
• scholarships

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants gave their time generously to share insights and perspectives. Principal Investigator: Associate Professor Ho Kong Chong.

Notes

1. We also interviewed 82 university staff in each setting but this paper reports only on student and alumni data.

2. We attribute this term to Anderson (1983).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education (Singapore) [grant number MOE2089-T2-101].