Melanated minds and diasporic bodies: Womanist curricular praxis as radical intervention in study abroad

Abstract

While university-based study abroad programs have become a core component of multicultural education, I argue that in many ways the dominant model of study abroad is rooted in a white masculinist episteme predicated on anthropological consumption of the “Other” without, and largely opposed to, meaningful examinations of the self. The present study is a critical exploration of a study abroad program created by Black women for students of African descent. Through two conceptual frameworks—Black Atlantic Consciousness and Womanism—I note the ways in which the study abroad program departed sharply from traditional programming found at historically white institutions. Utilizing narrative thematic case study analysis, findings reveal both the program designers’ goals and intentions for this study abroad program, as well as the ways those goals translated into pedagogical and curricular praxis. Three subthemes comprise the larger theme related to goals and intentions: self-awareness and communal awareness, African diasporic gendered identity, and deconstruction with student support. Four subthemes organize the theme curricular and pedagogical praxis: spiritually detoxing experiences, Afrocentric role-playing and storytelling/making, integration of counseling and emotional support resources, and institutional subversion. The article concludes with reflections on and implications for culturally relevant study abroad programming.