Internationalisation of the curriculum in Vietnamese higher education: mediating between ‘Western’ and local imaginaries

Over the past decades, the Vietnamese government has strategically encouraged the import of the ‘Western’ curriculum through the so-called Advanced Programmes. It is envisioned that by learning from the more advanced systems such as Australia, Canada, the US, and the UK, Vietnamese universities will be able to overhaul their outdated curriculum and embark on a shortcut to the league of global rankings. Drawing on 21 interviews with Vietnamese and foreign staff and students in two Advanced Programmes imported from the US, this article reviews these programmes’ twelve-year implementation to explore the challenges arising and the roles of local academics in implementing and mediating the curriculum. The research revealed considerable challenges in imparting ‘Western’ knowledge to the local context due to ideological and practicality differences. However, it is the process through which academics mediated between the international content and local students’ needs that enables practical internationalisation of the imported curriculum.