The Cosmopolitan University: The Medium toward Global Citizenship and Justice

Abstract

This article promotes the idea of universities adopting cosmopolitanism as a way to manage the changing demands on the system of higher education in the USA, namely to improve the inclusion of international students, minority students and other historically underrepresented groups, often referred to as the ‘Other’, which will in turn improve the quality of their experience in college. The population of college students served by these institutions, both on American soil and abroad, has undergone serious transformations in recent decades as a result of internationalization, globalization and increased access to a more diverse group of students. Universities should seek to be respectful and inclusive of these cultures via cosmopolitanism. Cosmopolitan universities can and should become a medium from which to promote global citizenship and global justice. This article also addresses the challenges and limitations associated with a cosmopolitan university.