A Fraught Exchange? U.S. Media on Chinese International Undergraduates and the American University

Abstract

In this article, we analyze the U.S. media discourse on Chinese international undergraduate students, the largest international student group since 2009. The discourse describes a market exchange, but reveals a struggle between: on the one hand, "a fair exchange"-between excellent Chinese students and world-class American liberal education; and, on the other hand, a "faltering exchange"-between ethically suspect and inassimilable Chinese students and a mercenary and possibly mediocre American university. We argue that this media reporting builds on long-standing seemingly contradictory images of an alluring China market and a threatening "Yellow Peril." We suggest that this media contest indexes the challenges of campus internationalization; just as the media questions real value on both sides of the exchange, so too is the campus encounter fragile and fraught. © 2013 European Association for International Education.