GSLR 2026: Crafting International Education for the Unpredictable

This issue of the Global Studies Literature Review (GSLR) expounds upon the NAFSA 2026 Annual Conference & Expo theme and focuses on "Crafting International Education for the Unpredictable" with pieces authored by a wide variety of voices—faculty members, graduate students, independent researchers, and international education professionals.

This topic encourages international educators to thoughtfully examine and engage with the tensions, challenges, and possibilities shaping our current environment as international education researchers and practitioners adapt to a new time. Through creative conceptual and theoretical lenses, these contributors invite readers to move beyond immediate reactions and toward deeper reflection.

View the NAFSA website for information about past issues of GSLR.

About the editor: Melissa Whatley, PhD, is an assistant professor of higher education at the College of William & Mary. Her research applies mixed methods and advanced quantitative analytic approaches to improve the understanding of policies and practices that diversify both who is able to access international education and the outcomes of these opportunities, especially within the context of U.S. community colleges. Through her teaching, Whatley aims to present quantitative research methods in a way that is accessible to diverse students with the goal of promoting inclusion in this area of education research. Whatley authored An Introduction to Quantitative Analysis for International Educators (2022) and International Higher Education Research: State of the Field (2020; coauthored with Bryan McAllister-Grande), and she has also published her research widely in journals such as Higher Education, Journal of Higher Education, Journal of Studies in International Education, and Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. She is an active researcher, writer, presenter, and contributor to various professional associations, including NAFSA.

Table of Contents

• Foreword by Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship Knowledge Community Chair Stream
• Editor’s Introduction
• Equity-Minded Mentoring to Support International Students in Higher Education
  • Essay by: Jennifer K. Schaeffer, Emily A. Crider, Raghvendra Singh, and Michael Lanford
• Rethinking Resilience: Equity and Innovation in Global Education
  • Review of: The Education We Need for a Future We Can’t Predict
  • Review by: Victoria H. Bergström
• Reimagining Higher Education in a Climate Crisis
  • Review of: Climate Justice and the University
  • Review by: Samantha Kaitlyn Nissen
• Beyond Rankings: Institutional Purpose as a Compass for Excellence in Uncertain Times
  • Review of: Pursuing Institutional Purpose: Profiles of Excellence
  • Review by: Jie Lin
• How Might We Reimagine Uncertainty as Opportunity? Design Thinking for International Educators
  • Review of: Design Thinking in Student Affairs: A Primer
  • Review by: Becca Abu Rakia-Einhorn
• Let’s Make It Worth It: Striving for Sustainable Education Abroad Programs
  • Review of: Sustainable Education Abroad: Striving for Change
  • Review by: Shue-kei Joanna Mok
• Reimagining Education That Produces Creative Problem-Solvers
  • Review of: Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Students to Engage the World, Second Edition
  • Review by: Dani Ecklund