Disrupting Neoliberal and Neocolonial Ideologies in U.S. Study Abroad: From Discourse to Intervention

Abstract

This review highlights the neoliberal and neocolonial ideologies embedded within discourses surrounding U.S. study abroad, specifically with regard to global citizenship. Drawing on existing literature and recent rhetoric promoting study abroad, it contextualizes contemporary U.S. study abroad from a critical perspective. Synthesizing the voices of critical scholars builds toward the need for intervention that intentionally incorporates critical pedagogies including decolonizing pedagogies and a focus on guided critical reflection and equitable interaction. This article includes a review of research focused on such critical frameworks in study abroad as a potential guide for study abroad educators and administrators to begin to reframe U.S. study abroad.

Unraveling the myth of Western supremacy: A critical discourse analysis of U.S. news reporting on international student migration from China.

“…To do so, it is crucial for U.S. HEIs to diversify the destinations of study abroad programs, with special attention paid to motivating U.S. students to explore less familiar cultures and societies in the majority world. The diversification of the destination choices should go hand in hand with the integration of critical and decolonizing pedagogies into the design and implementation of the programs (Moreno, 2021). This refined plan for U.S. study abroad will challenge the core nation/peripherical nation split manifested in the inflow/outflow patterns of ISM (Ma, 2018) and will ultimately contribute to unsettling the myth of Western supremacy embedded therein.…”

Returning to Normal?: Reimagining Study Abroad and Language Learning for a Sustainable and Equitable Future

“…By unpacking ideologies of SA, we intend to demonstrate how we should not simply seek a return to the good old times before COVID-19; after all, many of the positive outcomes assumed to be products of a SA experience (e.g., personal growth, intercultural experience, and even language learning) are rooted in, and thus reproduce, inequitable socio-historical processes. Although programmatic interventions in SA have long been recognized as essential to developing students' linguistic and intercultural competencies (Vande Berg et al, 2012), these interventions will fall short of addressing social inequities if the field does not critically reckon with the ideologies of SA (Moreno, 2021;Trentman, 2022).…”

Authentic Collaboration and Active Commitment to Equity: An Evolving Case of Centering Marginalized Voices in Education Abroad

“…In this paper, in the relationships between the two US-based and the two Nepal-based authors, and in the education abroad program as a whole, we seek to avoid this "move to innocence" and instead confront both the material and the symbolic dimensions of power at play in our practices. We intend to highlight ways in which our program bears legacies of colonialism, but nevertheless strives towards decolonialism, in keeping with the efforts of others who are focused on authentic community engaged global learning (e.g., Hartman et al, 2018;Moreno, 2021), as well as re-envisioning the dynamics of international educational program planning and participation (e.g. Christian et al, 2021;Hartman, 2015;Hartman et al, 2020;Ohito et al, 2021).…”