Marginalised voices, marginalised knowledge

This chapter provides a critical autoethnographic reflection on my experiences of doctoral education within the field of Intercultural Communication Education (ICE) in a Western academic context. It focuses particularly on the challenges I faced as an emerging scholar at the intersection of my positions as an international doctoral student with no prior knowledge of ICE in Finland. This chapter also explores how dominant Finnish and Western understandings and practices within the field included and excluded my research experiences, my voice, and the voices of others. To counter this Western-centred approach, I draw on the paradigm of Asia as Method and Zhuang Zhou’s Butterfly Dream (庄周梦蝶) to critically examine and problematise my own lived PhD experience in Finnish ICE. I also use the Tianxia (天下, “all under heaven”) concept to share my recommendations for enhancing inclusivity in ICE.