Encountering Place, Pedagogy, and Culture: Study Abroad and Experiential Learning in Morocco

324 Pages·2017·2.87 MB·English

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Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects CUNY Graduate Center
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Jennifer M. Pipitone
The Graduate Center, City University of New York
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ENCOUNTERING PLACE, PEDAGOGY, AND CULTURE:
STUDY ABROAD AND EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
IN MOROCCO AND INDONESIA

by

JENNIFER M. PIPITONE

A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Psychology in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York

2017
ii

 2017
JENNIFER M. PIPITONE
All Rights Reserved
iii
Encountering Place, Pedagogy, and Culture:
Study Abroad and Experiential Learning
in Morocco and Indonesia
by
Jennifer M. Pipitone

This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Psychology in
satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

Chitra Raghavan

_______________________ ____________________________________
Date Chairperson

Richard Bodnar

_______________________ ____________________________________
Date Executive Officer

Supervisory Committee:

David Chapin
Caitlin Cahill
Richard Mitten
Kimberly Holland

THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
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ABSTRACT
Encountering Place, Pedagogy, and Culture:
Study Abroad and Experiential Learning in Morocco and Indonesia

By

Jennifer M. Pipitone

Advisor: Professor Chitra Raghavan

Efforts to globalize higher education have resulted in study abroad climbing to an all-
time high in the United States. Amidst this growth, emergent bodies of literature have uncovered
problematic trends in study abroad that reproduce hierarchies of power and colonialism,
perpetuate views of an exotic cultural “other,” and privilege tourism over education. In my
dissertation, I respond to these problems by exploring ways of teaching and learning in study
abroad that embrace the pedagogical power of place to foster awareness of the self in relation to
other, cultivate relationality, and deconstruct the exotic. Rather than focusing on the individual as
the unit of analysis, I was concerned with wider phenomena of experiential learning, including
understanding how knowledge was produced in study abroad programs to Rabat, Morocco and
Bali, Indonesia, with a focus on place. In 2014, I spent seven weeks abroad with these programs
as a participant-researcher, collected over 200 written narratives in the form of reflective journals
with 26 students, and conducted one-year post-program interviews.
I looked to Henri Lefebvre’s (1991/1974) theory on the production of space to formulate
the overarching research question that guided this dissertation: What is the role of place in the
production of experiential learning space in study abroad? I introduce the concept of experiential
learning space as situated within sociocultural (Rogoff, 2003; Vygotsky, 1962) and socio-spatial
perspectives, which allows for exploration into the ways in which experiences in/of place are
both socially produced and socially producing through engagement with surrounding
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environments. Three sub-questions arose in order to explore my research question fully: How
can a socio-spatial perspective of experiential learning advance place-based research? How does
student engagement with place contribute to the production of experiential learning space? How
might the inclusion of a place-responsive pedagogical intervention shape student experiences
in/of an exotified cultural environment? Analyses of each sub-question are presented in three
interrelated chapters that act as standalone units and make up the main body of this dissertation.
Findings indicate engagement with place was fundamental to the production of
experiential learning space in the Morocco and Bali programs, mediated through pedagogies that
engaged students with local rhythms, meanings, and histories; social interaction with locals, each
other, and participation in cultural communities; and cultural tools that engaged students in
alternative ways of knowing and being the world before and during the trip, including narrative
activities and a pre-trip pedagogical intervention. Comparative case analysis suggests pairing
experiential place-based pedagogies with narratives activities encouraged students’
acknowledgment and renegotiation of representations of Moroccan-ness and Bali-ness,
deconstruction of the exotic, and enhanced relationality between self and other that remained a
year later, while simultaneously guiding students in the unpacking of their own cultural baggage.
Transcending categorical hierarchies of cultural difference and reversing the colonial
gaze in study abroad requires providing students with tools that help them embrace difference,
while at the same time, find some common ground or relationality within their experiences in/of
place. To this end, I advise that study abroad educators adapt the intentions and practices of their
programs to embrace the pedagogical potential of place, and provide a theoretical framework,
five epistemological commitments, and several pedagogical strategies to guide future program
development with an eye toward social change.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The support I have received while working on this dissertation, and throughout my
doctoral studies, has come from all corners of my lifeworld, and for this, I am forever grateful.
First and foremost, my deepest gratitude goes to my advisor and mentor, Professor Chitra
Raghavan, who took me under her wing and provided me with endless encouragement over the
past four years. The hours upon hours we have spent together discussing pedagogy, doing
research, and sojourning with students have been vital to my professional and personal growth,
and are memories I will cherish forever. What I appreciate most about Chitra, is her
transparency. I always found myself in awe of how knowledge and experience seemed to flow
out of her effortlessly, but she made it a point to impart upon me the key to achieving such flow:
practice, patience, and perseverance. From Chitra, I have learned what it means to be a careful
listener, a robust researcher, an empathetic traveler, and a supportive but challenging mentor. I
am honored to have had the opportunity to learn so much about the ways of the world with
someone I admire so much.
A special thanks goes to Professor Joe Glick, who advised me during the first three years
of my studies, and graciously continued to offer his support after retiring. His way of challenging
me intellectually furthered this work extensively. Joe has a way of asking unassuming questions
that dig deep—I have often sat with them for months before uncovering the answer in a glorious
a-ha moment. From Joe, I have learned that the best teachers are not those that provide answers,
but those that ask evocative questions. I am grateful to have had the chance to work alongside
such a brilliant cultural psychologist.
Professor David Chapin’s unwavering support and enthusiasm has been a constant source
of inspiration throughout the course of my studies. David is the type of person who always has
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his door open; in fact, my fondest memories of the sixth floor took place gathered around
David’s patch-work clothed table surrounded by warmth and seemingly never-ending trails of
books, plants, and energizing conversation. I first met David when visiting the program before
applying; since then, he has sat on all of my doctoral exams and continuously encouraged me to
more readily embrace the radical and revolutionary fringes of my work. From David, I have
learned not only the importance of pushing intellectual boundaries, but also what it means to
build a meaningful learning community, and for this I am thankful.
I am also fortunate to have welcomed Professor Caitlin Cahill as a committee member,
and Drs. Richard Mitten and Kimberly Holland as external readers for this dissertation. Caitlin
had a hand in planting the seeds for this work to grow, as it was in her class I was introduced to
Lefebvre in my second year. Though Caitlin worked with me on this dissertation for just a short
time, her generous and insightful feedback strengthened this manuscript in such a profound way
that it is hard for me to believe she was not a part of it from the start. Richard and Kim, despite
us having just met, pushed this work into deeper waters by offering the invaluable perspective of
study abroad administrators, urging me to consider its far-reaching implications for practice.
A warm shout out to my cohort, Sruthi Atmakur-Javdekar, Bryce DuBois, Scott Fisher,
Hannah Jaicks, and colleagues at The Graduate Center, Christin Bowman, Tia Fletcher, Svetlana
Jović, Bijan Kimiagar, and Jen Tang, for providing me with intellectual stimulation, emotional
support, and a sense of community in NYC. And to Judith Kubran, thank you for being our rock.
I am especially grateful for Svetlana’s companionship during the often lonely dissertation writing
phase. Svetlana has a lust for life that is irresistible, and a way of inspiring those around her to be
better humans. She can always bring me back to down to earth with her wittiness, irrefutable
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logic, and engaging storytelling. Not only does she (re)tell the greatest stories, I can think of no
one better to have made dissertation history with.
I want to thank from the bottom of my heart, the incredible students who participated in
this study, for sharing their time and study abroad experiences with me; my research assistants,
Janelle Robinson and Hazell Imbert, for their loyalty to this project over the past year and a half;
Chelsea Gross, for her cartography skills and helping me construct the maps included in this
work; Olivia Pipitone and Genever McBain, for their supportive and thoughtful proofing of this
manuscript; and the Baruch-Rubin Museum Partnership, for funding a considerable portion of
this project.
Completing this dissertation would have been impossible without the love and support
provided by my family and my dear friend, Julie Sisson, who after a decade of friendship has
never stopped advocating for personal revolution, and is like a sister to me. It was Julie who
invited me to participate in my first study abroad program during college, ultimately shaping my
life path. Thank you to my parents, Mom, Dad, Mike, and Tracy, for instilling in me a love of
learning, and always encouraging me to follow my dreams even when they lead me far away
from home. To my New Orleans family, thank you for always letting the good times roll. To the
matriarchs of my family, Maw Maw Gloria and Maw Maw Brenda, I aspire to be as loving and
caring as you have been throughout my life. Finally, to my sister and best friend Olivia, who has
been there for every step of this journey, thank you for being my loudest cheerleader.
Thanks to all of you, and the kindness of countless others, now is the time I can finally
say that this has all been wonderful, but now I’m on my way.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. xvii
List of Figures ............................................................................................................................ xviii
Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1
Research Questions .................................................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER I: A CASE FOR PLACE........................................................................................ 13
In Study Abroad ............................................................................................................................ 15
Study Abroad in America ........................................................................................................ 16
Significance of Short-term Study Abroad ................................................................................ 17
The Trouble with Study Abroad; or, a Myopic Focus on the Global ...................................... 19
In Experiential Learning ............................................................................................................... 23
Human-Environment Tensions in Experiential Learning Literature ....................................... 25
Dialectical Tensions between the Experiential and Conceptual. ........................................ 28
Continuity of Mind, Body, and Environment...................................................................... 29
Emplacing Experiential Learning ............................................................................................ 31
Co-dependents: Place and Space. ........................................................................................ 32
Theoretical Foothold: The Production of Space.................................................................. 35
Spatiality & Dewey’s Theory of Experience. ..................................................................... 38
Embodying Experiential Learning ........................................................................................... 41
Enactivism and Rhythmanalysis ......................................................................................... 41
CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 44
Research Design ....................................................................................................................... 45