This book narrates the ubiquitous relationship that international students have with their destination community, asking why students are not part of these communities despite being visible actors not only as students but as neighbours and as workers in the service industries and the gig economy.

This book examines international students living and working in Australia through a cultural and communications lens, bringing together almost a decade of interviews and online surveys. It provides insight into their transnational identities and social and cultural practices in real-world and digital spaces. Despite being an integral part of the ethnographic landscape of the places they occupy, this book argues that international students are often not an integrated part of the wider community. To remedy this, international students have found ways to explore and communicate their experiences as transient migrants in Australia. This book thus goes beyond canonical academic commentary on the international student experience – which often views them as vulnerable migrants – to suggest that students create a sense of community and belonging while providing the wider Australian public insights into the international student experience through the creative arts.

This book will appeal to scholars, upper-level students, and researchers with interests in international and comparative education, sociology of education, urban education, cultural studies, migration studies, and youth studies.