Islands and Bridges

Abstract

It is recommended that EMIs, including TNE institutions, should formalise ‘bridging' between their institutions and the local community, if possible. A definition of ‘community' is extended to include non-faculty/local staff within the university. The rationale for this recommendation is that it is predicated upon a win-win-win result: non-local faculty benefit because bridging assists with their integration into the local community; the university benefits because establishing links with the wider community is an invaluable PR initiative; the local community benefits. The authors' own experiences of bridging, formal and informal, official or otherwise, will be offered as examples of what might be achieved. At the same time, a section of this paper notes the challenges which one might experience when bridging, and how an individual and her institution might avoid such difficulties.