Asian International College Students' Exploration of "Multiculturalism" in the Midwest

• In Event: Moving Beyond the Forever Foreigner–Honorary White Binary: Asian/American Education Scholars on Re/Claiming Diasporic and Transnational Lived Experiences

Abstract

This study examines the unique experiences of Asian international college students on multiculturalism in the US through a summer program that was held in a university in the Midwest. Especially, this study investigates how Asian international college students can navigate in-depth levels of campus diversity initaitives and multiculturalism even though they are here on a short-term basis. Specifically, we situate how these experiences construct and reconstruct their understanding of “diversity” and “multiculturalism.” Drawing on cultural theories of public representation, we investigate the ways by which campus-based multicultural discourses both elicit and erase diverse responses from the international students.

“Case Narrative” method is applied to acquire a thorough knowledge of the daily lives of the participants, their motivation to come to the US and experiences of multiculturalism, and the way they constructed, and continue to construct their socio-cultural lives in a Midwestern US university. We reflect on how we as educators can maintain and encourage goodwill, plurality, and equality for our international students in today’s market-driven globalization era (Yang, 2003).

Author

• Hee Young Choi, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign