Kicking the Habit

Rethinking Academic Hypermobility in the Anthropocene

Authors

  • Max Crumley-Effinger
  • Blanca Torres-Olave

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v11iS1.3845

Keywords:

Internationalization, mobility, climate change, higher education, decoloniality

Abstract

Examining the hypermobility of many “elite” academic workers, this article situates mobility within the context of higher education and sustainability, decoloniality, and institutionalized expectations for academic travel. The mobility of HEI workers is described in relation to Anthropogenic climate change (ACC), which highlights the need for: (a) critical examination of and responses to the carbon footprint of academic workers; (b) exerting pressure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) production associated with expected mobility; and (c) deliberate changes to professional mobility approaches that take into account issues of equity vis-à-vis knowledge production, the effects of ACC, and GHG production from academic air travel. We offer an instrument—in the form of queries—to provide starting points for individual deliberations and collective actions to begin addressing these three issue areas.

Author Biographies

  • Max Crumley-Effinger

    MAX CRUMLEY-EFFINGER, MEd, is a doctoral candidate at Loyola University Chicago and an international student advisor at Virginia Tech University. His major research interests lie in the area of student immigration policy and environmental sustainability in international education. Email: mcrumleyeffinger@luc.edu. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7457-470X

  • Blanca Torres-Olave

    BLANCA TORRES-OLAVE, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education and International Higher Education at Loyola University Chicago. Her research focuses on transitions from higher education to the STEM labor market, academic labor, and international higher education. Email: btorresolave@luc.edu. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9286-4775

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Published

2021-05-21

How to Cite

Kicking the Habit: Rethinking Academic Hypermobility in the Anthropocene. (2021). Journal of International Students, 11(S1), 86-107. https://doi.org/10.32674/jis.v11iS1.3845