The world is changing rapidly and becoming increasingly polarized, complex, and uncertain. These changes affect many aspects of academia, particularly international collaboration and attitudes toward academia, as observed in the past decade. In addition, several global challenges of varying kinds deeply affect societies worldwide, including academia. Geopolitical and economic developments have reshaped global dynamics previously dominated by the USA. These include the rise of China in several fields, such as its establishment as a strong research nation and the formation of a multipolar world order. The logic of international collaboration as providing a way to solve common challenges more effectively has, to some extent, been replaced by a zero-sum rationale. Many governments increasingly view internationalization efforts through the lens of national and economic security. However, allowing national security concerns to overshadow the positive aspects of international collaboration may restrict researchers’ access to the research front, jeopardize the viability of the innovation ecosystem, and diminish the role of academia in public diplomacy efforts.

This event is part of APARC's Contemporary Asia Seminar Series.

Speaker:

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Andreas Göthenberg is the Executive Director of STINT (The Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education) since 2009 and a Board Member of Karolinska Institute. He received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden). Dr Gothenberg was a Post Doctoral Research Fellow at Tokyo Institute of Technology between 2003-2004 and is currently an Adjunct Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He was a Science & Technology Attaché at the Embassy of Sweden in Tokyo from 2006 to 2009, where he also covered Science & Technology (S&T) development in South Korea. During 2004-2006, he worked as a Center Manager and Senior Researcher in China, setting up joint research & education centers for KTH Royal Institute of Technology at Zhejiang University and Fudan University.

Moderator:

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Gi-Wook Shin is the William J. Perry Professor of Contemporary Korea in Sociology and a senior fellow of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He has served as director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center since 2005, and as founding director of the Korea Program since 2001. His research concentrates on social movements, nationalism, and international relations, focusing on Korea and Asia. He is the author/editor of numerous books and articles, including South Korea’s Democracy in Crisis: The Threats of Illiberalism, Populism, and Polarization and The North Korean Conundrum: Balancing Human Rights and Nuclear Security. His new book, Talent Giants in the Asia-Pacific Century, a comparative study of talent strategies of Japan, Australia, China, and India, will be published by Stanford University Press in 2025.

In 2023, Shin launched the Stanford Next Asia Policy Lab (SNAPL), an initiative committed to addressing emergent social, cultural, economic, and political challenges in Asia. In May 2024, he launched the new Taiwan Program at APARC and currently serves as the program director.

Shin previously taught at the University of Iowa and the University of California, Los Angeles. He holds a B.A. from Yonsei University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Washington.