Statecraft and study abroad: Imagining, narrating and reproducing the state

Jade Lansing,Rebecca L Farnum

doi:10.18546/ijdegl9.1.02

Abstract

Study abroad in higher education is on the rise, marketed as an effective way to produce global citizens and undermine international boundaries. In practice, however, programmes frequently reify rather than challenge states: participants 'study Morocco' rather than 'exploring Marrakech'. This framing reproduces real and imagined realities of the nation-state, presented as externally distinct and internally homogeneous. This article considers how study abroad discourses and practices in North America and Europe 'sell' developing states as abstract 'goods' embodying an authentic 'other'. A case study from Dar Si Hmad's Ethnographic Field School in southwest Morocco considers how various stakeholders reinforce and challenge this approach. The paper concludes by calling for a more nuanced conversation about the utility and impact of states as the predominant lens of overseas study.

Highlights

For many universities worldwide, study abroad has become an essential component of fulfilling global education benchmarks and educating global citizens (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2017; Lewin, 2009; Dolby, 2007)
Study abroad in higher education is on the rise, marketed as an effective way to produce global citizens and undermine international boundaries
Study abroad has become an essential component of fulfilling global education benchmarks and educating global citizens (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2017; Lewin, 2009; Dolby, 2007)

Summary

Introduction

Study abroad has become an essential component of fulfilling global education benchmarks and educating global citizens (Association of American Colleges and Universities, 2017; Lewin, 2009; Dolby, 2007). This case highlights the challenges created in a particular national context and the impacts of state-centric frameworks on students and local practitioners. Trends in Morocco do not mirror those of other regions exactly, and this case study is intended merely to provide qualitative insight into the trend of framing and narrating study abroad as ‘experiencing’ a state It highlights the various roles played by the Moroccan state, sending universities, programme practitioners and study abroad participants in reinforcing particular narratives of ‘Morocco’ at the expense of other possibilities. Far from being mere off-timetable breaks or wastes time, planned interactions of ‘speaking with’ (rather than about or to) local communities, whether in informal settings or facilitated group discussions, should merit study abroad practitioners’ consideration as critical pedagogical tools, at least as valuable a use of study abroad time as tours, lectures and field visits

Conclusion

Notes on the contributors