Transnational and localised constructions of wellbeing and health: International students’ anxious embodiments

Abstract

The global health crisis initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021) brought to the fore issues around bodily health and safety within the internationalisation of higher education. Rarely have these concerns been discussed in relation to international students, despite them being a central issue for students themselves and their family members ‘back home’. In this paper, we draw upon in-depth interviews with UK-based international postgraduate students to discuss how concepts of safety and bodily health are constructed geographically and transnationally, in conversation with family members ‘back home’ and, conversely, in their embedded and emplaced experiences as international students. The COVID-19 pandemic provides a useful lens for considering these issues as it brought them into sharp relief as never before.