“Exploring Your World, Exploring Other Cultures:” How Neocoloniality and Neoliberalism Inform U.S. Education Abroad Programs

ABSTRACT

Using critical discourse analysis, we research how study abroad programs within U.S. universities create and reinforce discourses on the nature of higher education, citizenship, socioeconomic equity, and globalization. We analyze the content of advertising for education abroad programs that describe the myriad of destinations and opportunities available to students; we also discover and unpack the sparse rationale on the value of studying abroad presented to students. Symptomatic of this sparseness are tropes on global citizenship, colonial binaries, and travel—often connected to service-learning akin to missionary travel—that can deepen processes of “othering.” Through our analysis of promotional materials—taking a critical look at text and images—used in education abroad programs from 50 universities, we identify and analyze the uncritical operation of neoliberalism and neocoloniality as ideologies within not only education abroad programs but also the institution of higher education as a whole. Drawing from postcolonial and feminist perspectives, we suggest ways to mitigate epistemic and other injustices that discourse on global education might propagate, however unintentionally.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the Office of Engaged Learning at Utah Valley University, for their generous award of a Grant for Engaged Learning (GEL) that helped fund this project. We greatly appreciate our anonymous peer reviewers whose meticulous comments and suggestions made this a better paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Office of Engaged Learning, Utah Valley University [N/A].

Notes on contributors

Debjani Chakravarty

Debjani Chakravarty is an associate professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Utah Valley University. Her academic and activist interests span globalization and immigration; feminist pedagogy; anti-racist and anticolonial praxis; new media; and citizenship/belonging. Debjani has published academic and artistic works exploring the topic of transnational feminisms, collaborative research ethics, and epistemic justice. Her current research focuses on the experiences of religious LGBTQIA people in Utah.

Kasi Good

Kasi Good is a clinical social worker and works closely with Alpine School District offering mental health services to at-risk students. She also is an adjunct instructor in the Behavioral Science Department at Utah Valley University. Kasi holds a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science, with an emphasis in Sociology, both from Utah Valley University. Kasi is committed to social and educational justice as a social worker and researcher.

Hadley Gasser

Hadley Gasser is pursuing a Master of Education focusing on Higher Education Leadership and holds a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science with an emphasis in Sociology and a minor in Gender Studies. He is currently the Program Manager for the Master of Business Administration program at Utah Valley University. He is dedicated to researching and finding ways to increase inclusivity and garner a sense of belonging among Utah Valley Uuniversity students, especially first-generation, low-income students.