Global + Personal: Exploring the Digitally Mediated Communication of American Undergraduate Study Abroad Sojourners

• In Event: 79.050 - MTCC Roundtable Session 36
  In Roundtable Session: 79.050-11 - Study Abroad Programs

Abstract

Written reflection is frequently recommended in study abroad contexts as a way for students to connect their experiences to global ideas. This qualitative study explored how undergraduate students wrote about their study abroad experiences in a digitally-mediated, pedagogical context with young American audiences. Through document analysis, surveys, and interviews, the study found that undergraduate sojourners represented themselves as travelers who had overcome institutional and socioeconomic barriers. More participants expressed openness, belonging, experiences of receptivity, and motivation than those sharing perspectives of critical cultural self-awareness. The study urges educators to address the goals and conditions of written reflection as a tool for cultivating openness to local and distant audiences and generating critical awareness of cultural and social identity.

Author

• Sophie Lam, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council