Abstract:
Looking through the history of higher education in Zimbabwe, we argue that the
concept of internationalization of higher education is not new to Zimbabwe.
Understandings, manifestations, and processes of the phenomenon over time are
examined to reveal the nuances of the internationalization process in its current mode
of occurrence, in an attempt to not only understand it in its colonial and postcolonial
manifestation but to situate it within a wider decolonial project. Using a decolonial
lens, this article explores various processes of internationalization in Zimbabwe’s
higher education institutions (HEIs), viewing them either as continuities or disruptions.
In so doing, we argue that for internationalization in Zimbabwe’s HEIs to fully deliver on its promises, it needs to not only engage with the issues of colonial
(ism/ity) but also to understand its particular specificity in the Zimbabwean society,
and the effects that this continues to have on internationalization attempts.
