Abstract:

This paper examines some aspects of current debates about what the XXI century’s University represents in the context of the globalized society, with particular emphasis on the concepts, perspectives and trends that occur worldwide. Higher Education (HE) is facing the changing society’s pressing needs, hence the need for continuous adaptation by adopting evernew methods to cope with the irreversible process of internationalization and globalization. HE plays a major role in the transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based society. This research literature aims to study the globalization-university relationship, the HE’s transnationalization through internationalization, as seen by the researchers in the field. Education and particularly the HE have the task not only to react to the quasi-globalization trends, but rather to play a role in the development of desirable future society, leading to qualitative changes designed to preserve the identity of diverse communities and tolerance based on communication knowledge and understanding the interests of each participant in this process. Without claiming to discuss in a general register this topic (although very broad in its essence), I just tried to achieve a brief scan of the bidirectional impact of globalization-internationalization (whether as understood in the literature – Americanization, Europeanization, homogenization, diversification) it has in higher education. Of course, the approach was focused mainly on the effects of the opportunities of internationalization of global education they have or shoud have on HE and research in actual context. This paper reviews the international realities of HE for three important poles of the global space: U.S.A., Asia-Pacific and Europe until the beginning of the current financial crisis. Imagining a correspondance between the general profile of each region and the name of concepts of ludic space, I associated a certain notion (Monopoly, Dominoes and Puzzle) to each of the mentioned regions, arguing that associations by illustrating the most significant aspects of the transformations that flows globalization have forced regional systems analyzed. Considerations about the U.S. as a magnet for resources, China and the miracle of the structural reform of higher education, performance lessons that Japan offers to the world, the domino effect of novelty almost envied (Bologna process with all the innovation system) and traditional values (Humboldtian construction) in Europe, provides a summary of opinions and research of existing literature overflow.

Keywords:

Mundus academicus, globalisation, internationalization, regionalization, higher education, economics, academic reforms.