Contributions to an internationalization of higher education from and to Latin America. The experience of UNILA and ELAM

Abstract

The work aims to reflect on the internationalization of higher education from and for Latin America, by studying the experiences of Universidade Federal para a Integração Latino-Americana (UNILA), localized in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil, and the Escola Latino-americana de Medicina (ELAM), localized in Havana, Cuba. Thus, we seek to discuss the issue of internationalization through the tension between two theoretical perspectives: one hegemonic and another under construction. It is an exploratory and descriptive study, developed from the analysis of documents and bibliographic production on internationalization, UNILA and ELAM. The text is organized into four parts. At first, we analyze different perspectives of the internationalization of higher education, identified by literature review of the research. Secondly, we characterize a perspective of internationalization, which we consider in construction, formulated to and from Latin America. In the third place, we present two international experiences, which fall in the latter emerging perspective. Finally, we expose some considerations and reflections on what worked throughout the text, and identify the main challenges to be faced by these two institutions regarding the promotion of internationalization to and from Latin America.