In global terms the movement of students across international borders has characterized the life of universities and educational institutions since medieval times. [1] As de Wit and Knight point out, colonialism has been a significant influence on the internationalisation of higher education since the 18^th century, as the urban European university model has been imposed on colonial subjects, particularly in Asia, South America and Africa.[2]  Much research with a contemporary focus has highlighted international student mobilities, the globalizing effects of the ‘market’, issues related to ‘selling places’ to foreign students, particularly from Asia and what is sometimes characterized as the ‘learning difficulties’ of these students.[3]  Implicit in this scholarship is the notion that global economic forces are driving the practices of international education today.[4] However, a comprehensive historical analysis of the movement of international students across cultural and geographical spaces is largely missing from the political history of higher education. Despite the fact that the arrival of Colombo Plan scholars from South East Asia in the early 1950s represents the first large scale movement of international students from ‘underdeveloped’ largely rural  countries to ‘developed’ urban societies such as New Zealand, Australia and Canada, its significance has been little studied. This paper attempts to address this gap in the field of knowledge.

This paper explores the impact of the arrival of Colombo Plan Scholars in New Zealand universities and considers ways in which their experience of moving from  South East Asian ‘kampongs’ to the New Zealand urban  ‘campus’ reflected  ruptures between ‘east and west’ as well as connections between cultures,  spaces and geographies.

[1] Nadine Dolby and Aliya Rahman, "Research in International Education," Review of Educational Research 78, no. 3 (2008). [2] Hans de Wit and Jane A. Knight, "Quality and Internationalisation in Higher Education," (Paris: Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, 1999). [3] Simon Marginson, "Nation-Building Universities in a Global Environment: The Case of Australia," Higher Education 43(2002); ———, "Rethinking Academic Work in a Global Era;," Journal of Higher Education, Policy & Management 22, no. 1 (2000); Vikash Naidoo, "International Education: A Tertiary-Level Industry Update," Journal of Research in International Education 5, no. 3 (2006); Nicholas Tarling, International Students in New Zealand: The Making of Policy since 1950 (Auckland: New Zealand Asia Institute,The University of Auckland, 2004); Francis Collins, "Bridges to Learning: International Student Mobilities, Education Agencies and Inter-Personal Networks," Global Networks: A Journal of Transnational Affairs 8, no. 4 (2008). [4] Dolby and Rahman, "Research in International Education."