Cosmopolitan education, travel and mobilities to Washington, DC

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the cosmopolitan mobilities of young elites that take part in study-internship programmes in Washington, DC, US. In the case of Washington, DC, a large study-internship industry has been developed and this is an important example of how cities can become instrumental in organising specialised elite mobilities. These study-internship programmes (normally called Washington Semester Programmes (WSP)) give both US and international students the chance to study and intern in Washington, DC. Similar programmes exist in many global cities; however, Washington, DC has arguably become a central hub for those who wish to pursue careers in the fields of development politics or in the NGO sphere. The paper illustrates how ideas and stories of mobile careers and the importance of ‘being mobile’ on the job market catalyse student mobility into Washington, DC. Significantly, student mobilities to Washington, DC combine education with aspects of tourism and lifestyle mobilities. Moreover, these programmes allude to ideas of global citizenship through increasing participant’s human capital by enhancing their cosmopolitanism through this educational experience. Likewise, the participants in these programmes buy into those ideas of cosmopolitanism and the added value to their mobility capital through experiencing the political landscapes of Washington, DC.

KEYWORDS:

• Education
• cosmopolitanism
• elites
• mobilities
• development
• politics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Felix Schubert MA majored in Geography and American Studies at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University, Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh EH14 1DJ, UK.

Kevin Hannam has a PhD in Geography from the University of Portsmouth, UK and is Head of Tourism & Languages and Professor of Tourism Mobilities in the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University, Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh EH14 1DJ, UK.

ORCID

Felix Schubert http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6671-2225

Kevin Hannam http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6034-3521