Marketing to international students: Presentation of university self in geopolitical space

Amidst public calls for greater internationalization, universities are marketing to international students. We explore how universities in regional hubs (Lee & Schoole, 2015) enact “dramaturgical performances” (Goffman, 1959), presenting images of themselves in geopolitical space. We find: (1) bifurcated marketing strategies to distinct student audiences; (2) differences between public and private universities in featuring lifestyle or academic issues, and higher education as a private or a public good, as in “academic capitalism” (Slaughter & Rhoades, 2004); & (3) distinctive positioning of universities by type and region in their local/national/regional space, highlighting the possibility of alternatives to dominant Anglo-American internationalization models.