Boundless Engagement, Limitless Opportunities. The Global Alliance of Foreign Studies Universities

The Global Alliance of Foreign Studies Universities (GAFSU) was created on May 19^th, 2017, by 30 founding universities, all of which specialize in foreign language education and research and area studies. GAFSU is an open, nonprofit, and non-corporate body that aims to build a platform for educational cooperation. GAFSU members form a unique community committed to the principles of solidarity, mutual trust, and winwin cooperation. The mission of GAFSU is to help member universities complement each other with their own advantages, to help make their languages listened to and cultures understood, to bridge differences, to enhance area studies, and to promote people-to-people and cultural exchanges.

GAFSU is committed to forging a platform for educational exchange, optimizing educational programs plus promoting academic research. Through holding forums and meetings, GAFSU intends to deepen mutual understanding among its members, to facilitate the sharing of educational philosophy and experience, and to explore new educational models characterized by transnational programs and cross-border flows. GAFSU also intends to facilitate the faculty/student exchange among member universities and help them develop multi-lingual and inter-disciplinary perspectives through joint degree programs in an effort to address the urgent global demand for high-caliber professionals with an international vision.

Additionally, GAFSU promotes the exchange and collaboration among researchers and research institutes from member universities, encourages collaboration in application for international research grants, and launches joint research programs. The ultimate goal is to secure its members’ influence in domains of foreign language education, area studies, and global governance.

Currently, GAFSU’s universities are distributed across various regions. The largest region in terms of membership is Asia, with a total of 27 universities. Europe has 6 affiliated universities. America is represented by 3 member universities, including UNAM as the only representative from Mexico. Furthermore, there is one member from Africa.

This diverse distribution confirms the global character of the alliance and its commitment to fostering international collaboration in the field of foreign studies.

UNAM’S COLLABORATION WITH GAFSU HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT SINCE IT’S CREATION, AS IT IS ONE OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS

COLLABORATION WITH UNAM
UNAM’s collaboration with GAFSU has been significant since it’s creation, as it is one of the founding members. Since then, the university has actively participated in several GAFSU’s forums and events, sharing its expertise, based on GAFSU’s founding principles.

During the Forum on Regional Studies and Global Governance in 2017, hosted at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), Dr. Francisco Trigo, UNAM’s Vice Provost for International Affairs, presented a conference titled “UNAM Perspective, Internationalization, and Student Mobility.” He highlighted there the role of UNAM’s Mexican Studies Center in China, a collaborative project with BFSU, and discussed the potential for further collaboration between universities.

In the second forum of the alliance in 2019, UNAM had a prominent participation once again. Dr. Trigo and Dr. María del Carmen Contijoch (Director of UNAM’s National School of Languages, Linguistics and Translation (ENALLT), attended the event, together with members of the Mexican Studies Center at UNAM/BFSU.

The forum focused on the theme of Language, Civilization, and the Community of Shared Future for Humanity, and was hosted by Xi’an International Studies University.

During the forum, ENALLT’s director was a keynote speaker on Foreign Language Studies Areas and Disciplinary Development. She provided an overview of ENALLT, highlighting that it teaches 17 foreign languages (in addition to Nahuatl) at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, with various research areas. She emphasized the popularity of Chinese among UNAM students and the collaboration with the Confucius Institute and Hanban.

In a panel dedicated to International Exchange and Cultural Diversity, Dr. Trigo discussed UNAM’s university cooperation model. He stressed the importance of foreign studies in promoting crosscultural understanding and global cooperation, especially in the context of current challenges. He also delivered the closing remarks on behalf of foreign universities, concluding the meeting.

In 2022, UNAM collaborated with GAFSU organizing the first series of conferences on Latin America, as part of the GAFSU Lecture Series – on Disciplinary Development and Innovation. The conference series featured renowned speakers from UNAM, including Dr. Enrique Dussel Peters, from the School of Economics, and Dr. Raúl Benítez-Manaut from the Center for North American Studies. The lectures addressed topics such as the Belt and Road Initiative, Chinese infrastructure projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, and geopolitical challenges in the relationship between the United States, Mexico, and Latin America.

Furthermore, the director of the Mexican Studies Center in China, Dr. Adalberto Noyola, represented UNAM in the event of the creation of the Consortium for Country and Area Studies sponsored by GAFSU. The consortium aims to provide a platform for academics with diverse cultural, disciplinary, and linguistic backgrounds to collaborate on research and publications addressing global and regional issues from a multi- and interdisciplinary perspective. Dr. Noyola shared his analysis on International University Cooperation, emphasizing UNAM’s commitment to facilitating interactions between students and researchers, despite the challenges posed by the global pandemic.

Overall, UNAM’s collaboration with GAFSU has been very fruitful, with active participation in diverse events, publication contributions, and a commitment to fostering international ties and academic cooperation.

GAFSU NEWSLETTER
To facilitate the communication among member universities and establish a platform for experience sharing, according to the mechanism under the GAFSU Charter, the GAFSU Secretariat decided to launch its newsletter in conjunction with the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press. The first issue was successfully published in March 2020, having attracted faculty and students from member universities to contribute to the publication.

GAFSU Newsletter delivers first-hand information on education and research, international exchange, publication of journals, and featured activities such as the Seminar on African Studies.

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