Nelson, A. R., & Wei, I. P. (Eds.). The global university: Past, present, and future perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, 2012. ISBN: 978-0-230-39245-8. Pages: 284.

Published in April 2012, The global university is a result of an international research project involving scholars from China, Australia, Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the US. It addresses the hotly contested topic of establishing ‘world class universities’ from a historical perspective and effectively uses evidence from almost all continents.

Essentially, this volume explores the issues and challenges faced by many government, business, and education leaders around the world by situating the globalisation of higher education in a broad comparative-historical context. Chronologically, it extends from the medieval period to the early modern, modern, and postmodern eras; geographically, it ranges from East and Southeast Asia to Australia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and North America. The book is formed by a collection of ten essays on the broader topics of history and politics of higher education, the sociology of knowledge, and modern university leadership.

Palgrave Macmillan