Internationalising the Curriculum: Benefits and Challenges in a Swedish Case

Abstract

Global experience and internationally enriched learning environments are increasingly valued in today’s higher education. To meet these demands, a curricular reform was initiated to internationalise the Master’s Programme at the Department of Criminology at Malmö University. International research collaborations were already well established and bilateral exchange agreements existed but were used to a limited extent due to language obstacles. Swedish students went abroad, but this was not reciprocated. English was therefore introduced as the medium of instruction. This paper describes the plan to implement this internationalisation process and its subsequent effectuation. The process included an external market analysis, support seminars and workshops for both students and teaching staff, and a brief process evaluation. Finally, the paper presents post-process reflections and concluding remarks from a group of domestic and international students in the programme, as well as from an external review panel that assessed the educational quality of the programme.