The Romance of Crossing Borders: Studying and Volunteering Abroad

149 Pages·2017·12.66 MB·English

by  Neriko Musha Doerr

The Romance
of Crossing Borders
Studying and Volunteering Abroad
Edited by
Neriko Musha Doerr
and
Hannah Davis ra·ieb
berghahn
NEW YOR~ • OXFORD
www.b,rghahnbooh.con,
s
For the McChe sneys, my counselor Pri t
ers, my host families and ll f , es s. trands. Davises. and Park-
Published in 2017 by Z · a my nends in K ·
ealand, my beloved study abroad d t· . ap1t1 Coast. Aotearoa/New
es matton.
8erghahn Books
-Ne1rl<o Mush a Doerr
www berghahnbooks.com
For my colleagues at the CIEE Pa n.s center for f
rec ors throughout the world d f ' my ellow resident di-
t
© 2017 Neriko Musha Doerr and Hannah Davis Ta\eb gratitude for all the wonderful;~ or n:'Y trusted US colleagues. with
on our practice. versahons that inspired me to reflect
Hannah Davis Taieb
Al\ nghts reserved Except for the quotation of short passages
for the purposes of cntic1sm and review. no part of this book
may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical. including photocopying, recordmg. or any information
storage and retneva\ system now known or to be invented.
without wntten permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Doerr, Neriko Musha, 1967-editor I Davis Ta1eb, Hannah. editor.
Title The romance of crossing borders · studying and volunteering abroad I
edited by Neriko Musha Doerr and Hannah Davis Tateb
Descnption: New York : Berghahn Books, 2017 I Includes mdex.
Identifiers· LCCN 2016053198 (pnnt) I LCCN 2016058381 (ebool<) I ISBN
9781785333583 (hardback · a\k paper) l ISBN 9781785333590 (ebook)
Subjects LCSH foreign study -Social aspects. I Volunteerism- Soc1al
aspects. I International education- Social aspects. I Co\lege students·
Intellectual life I Educational anthropology.
Classification LCC LB2375 R66 2017 (print) I LCC LB2375 (ebook) I DDC
370116/2· dc23
LC record available at https 1/lccn loc gov/2016053198
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Pata
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
978-1-78533~358-3 ISBN (hardback)
978-1-78533-359-0 ISBN (ebook)
Contents
List of Tables ix
Preface: The Romance of Study Abroad
X
Michael Woolf
Acknowledgements xvi
Part I. Introduction
Chapter 1. Affect and Romance in Study and Volunteer Abroad:
Introducing our Project 3
Nenko fvlusha Doerr and Hannah Davis Taieb
Chapter 2. Study Abroad and Its Reasons: A Critical Overview
of the Field 35
Hannah Davis Taieb and Neriko fvlusha Doerr
Part II. Studying with{out) Passion: Study Abroad and Affect
Chapter 3. Passionate Displacements into Other Tongues
and Towns: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Shifting into
a Second Language 69
J<aren Rodnguez
Chapter 4. Sojourn to the Dark Continent: Landscape and
Affect in an African Mobility Experience 93
Bradley Rink
Chapter 5. Thinking Through the Romance 114
Hannah Davis Taieb, with Emily Bihl, fvlai-Linh Bui,
HyoJung Kim and Kaitlin Rosenblum
viii • co~l 1l~
Tables
Chapter 6. Fa\Hng In/Out of Love with the Place: Affective
Investment. Perceptions of Difference. and Learning in 139
Study Abroad
Nenl<o /v!usha Doerr
Chapter 7. Learning Japanese/Japan in a Year Abroad in Kyoto:
Discourse of Study Abroad. Emotions, and Construction 166
Table 4.1. Analysis of student re
perception) sponses (retrospective
of Self 104
Yuri l<umagai
m. Table 4.2. Analysis of student responses (current perception) 109
Part Serving with Passion: Romantic Images
of Self and Other in Volunteering Abroad
Table 9.1. Research Stud Parti I
Marshall Islands Volun~eers c ~a~ts- Returned WorldTeach
an emograph1c Information 244
Chapter 8. One Smile, One Hug: Romanticizing "Making
a Difference# to Oneself and Others through 195
Table 9.2. Pa r t1 C1pants' Interview Transcnpts 246
English-Language Voluntourism
Cori Jakubiak
Chapter 9. #People with Pants": Self-Perceptions of 220
WorldTeach Volunteers in the Marshall Islands
Ruochen Richard Li
Conclusion 251
Hannah Davis Taieb and Neriko /v!usha Doerr
Student Photo Essay 276
/v!organ Greer. Lee-Anna John. Richard Suarez. Carla Vil/ads
f)rcf a.c • xi
liquid tones melted hearts with lyncs in .
love was tragically interesting and . . which the pain of unrequited
In this context a romantic is the s~:;e~;sttbly attractive (or so we hoped).
Preface
are logical collocations. They also k ~ers_on for whom moon tn June
This form of romance eep onsts ,n business
The Romance of Study Abroad may, ostensibl h
with study abroad but the P y, ave tenuous connection
t ( . · rocess of attracti
ton with the co-related potential f . on. romance, and seduc-
Michael Woolf resonates metaphoncally with the stu: re1ect10~ and abandonment)
ways. Martha Johnson argues th t ent expenence in a number of
pectations parallel romant1·c a , m predeparture phases, student ex-
. expectations "Th . . .
ration are analogous to a l . .' e antlc1pat1on and prepa-
'bl d · ong awaited first dat
m date by the time the student d .. e, and tn many cases a
Study abroad is at so I eparts (2012: 33).
, me eve\ an en
landscape populated by ,conic ima ,e . .g a~ement with a dreamed
There are broadly three concepts covered by the word ·romance·: ro combination of curiosity im . g s proJecttons that are formed by a
mance as a courtshlP process. as an artlstic sensibility, and as a \<.ind . , agmat,on and pa ·
m 1cates: "the ability of th ·. . sston, as Martha Johnson
of fanciful delusion. In all three, there are demonstrable connections d . e city to ehctt a · 1
sponse is a powerful but often als viscera and emotional re-
with study abroad. The essays in this co\1ection. expUdt\y or implidtly, abroad" (2012: 32). o untapped element of the experience
exp\ore these connections that. by way of introduction. I will catego
rize as "\ove at first sight/site," as "the exa\ted mood.'' and as ·stereotyp As in any relationship, the earl da s
by euphoria, unease, excitement y b y of engagement are marked
lcal myopia." In love at first sight/site, students engage in a relatlonship
feelings that frequently characte ·. em_a rrassment and all the cluster of
with location that is analogous to courtship. The exalted mood (William . nze ntuals of r ·
some pomt the student ma d' omanhc engagement At
Wordsworth's term) is marl<.ed by heightened sensibility, emotional in Y 1scover that th 1 . ·
m. adore London but are odd\ ct·tt ey ove Pans or hate Ber-
tensity, and a focus on the self. what Georg Wilhelm Friedrich \-legel 1ro mance is embedded in the ;/ m. I ere.nt to Rome. The language of
called "absolute inwardness·:1 notions that for good and/or mr everber of place· ays m which we relate to the d1 scovery
ate around student expenence abroad. Stereotypical myopia relates to
the state of sem1awareness in which student preconceptions are not
challenged or disrupted· a faUure of educational responslb1hty.
The romance of study abroad is then a set of dynamics that may form The Exalted Mood
and inform ways in which students engage with their host env1Tonments.
6
!he romantic is not of course sole\ ab
mg tn and out of love in wha~ th out the curious business of fall-
demonstrates m "The, Prelude" (1;99~e1~k; called ·Er~s: As Wordsworth
Love at First SighVSite tual lo_ve. or "Agape," is expressed thr SJ, something closer to spin
ters with ideas and lands ough the exalted mood; encoun-
Romance 1s a ntua\ that seems oddly archaic in these more utilitarian . cape marked by heightened intensity·
ttmes. It was a process through which (when l was a \ad) we aspired to
TW~1sh spiritual Love acts not nor can exist .
move trom attraction to seduction. a set of gestures aimed at ultimate
11 t out Imagina ti on whi.c h. in truth
intimacy. Important artifacts such as flowers and muslc were employed
1 but another name for absolute power
as visual and audio aids For an earlier generation, by way of example.
An~ clearest insight, amplitude of mind
the songs of Fran\<. Sinatra proved to be somewhat effective. This was n Reason m her most exalted mood .
part\Cu\ar\y true of the Capitol Record years. from 1953 to 1961. when
xii • Michael Woolf
A Hopeless Romantic
Wordsworth engaged with natural and built enwonments ta field of
ir:t7d
daffodtls and Westminster Bridge) with the kind of intenstty that trans A far less desirable outcome is s
delusion and a form of distorted by t~e idea of romance as a
formed the external world into internal epiphany. Place is more than
may ~ndorse stereotypical constru~t pa In this sense, a romantic view
geography and history; it has the power to transtorm consciousness.
locations are frequently presented ths. By way of illustration. European
Ttm Blanning argues that in the Romantic imagination, "the inner self
~bout ·authenticity." Those usually d rough unchallenged assumptions
was everything: if the hght did not shine brightly from within, nothing
ost 1den~1ties that were, m any ca enve from romantic nostalgia for
worthwhile could be achieved" (2010: 31). The idea of authenticit d se, mostly illusory.
The Romantics embedded movement in their phtlosophy both in a r
the" Y enves from d
. d '.ea Spatn or Italy, or wherever Th an t ea of what constttutes
llteral sense tengagement wtth place acts as a catalyst for heightened
I eahzed images Jerusalems of th.e ese .notions are usually rooted in
perception). and metaphorically m that an objective was to move from
the loss of the real England for ex i~agmat1on Lamentations about
one level of consciousness to another higher form of intensity.! At the
s1on of a dreamed land , amp e. customarily denve from
center ot our endeavor is the notion of disturbance as an educattonal . scape shaped b E r a ver
nng Hugh Grant, conservative (and y a mg comedies or films star-
aspnation The heart of the liberal educational ideal is the asphat1on
good old days. and countless fant . Conservative) delusions about the
to create experiences that broaden. challenge, and disrupt students·
for the most part' based on romanatsi1ceis odf pastoral community· Th ey are
assumptions In a domesttc context. the challenge of new ideas can
mshed by time. or by current reality ze images untouched and untar~
achieve that purpose. ln study abroad the process of disturbance is both
physical and intellectual: opportunities to broaden and deepen student The notion of th e real Spain is fill
t1ons of Hemingway's heroic land erect through imperfect recollec
thought are enhanced by simultaneous engagement with the unfamil-
men. and mystenous dark-hatred s;'.,"pes, populated by noble and stlen;
tar m both 1deas and locations. mg. if ~enacmg, beauty; but ar~ th;peramental women of outstand
The paradox through whtch exposure to new external environ-
authenttc, less real, than the sawd beaches of Benidorm really less
ments may enlighten and enrich the inner self was well understood by
ists drinking lager in the pubs b L~:t bars of Pamplona? British tour
the Romantic poets. as demonstrated by Shelley in "Mont Blanc· Lmes
~~uld an unreal Spain look like? ~h ant1~e Beach look very real What
Wntten in the Vale of Chamouni": t1c1ty are usually expressions o. ere is ,t? In short. notions of authen
ex,st. if at all, in fictions, myths :;~:antic nostalgia for lost worlds that
Thou art pervaded with that ceaseless motion.
abroad marketing, and, of course t io_n an~ identity, thoughtless study
Thou art the path of that unresting sound
D12zy Ravine• and when I gaze on thee Study abroad ,s littered with ,roounst_offices.
I seem as m a trance sub\tme and strange ~lter~d through some combination:~ntlc versions of national identity
To muse on my own separate fantasy, t1on, ~conic images, advertising stereotype, manufactured tradi
My own, my human mind Spamard is as hkely to be an a~~~::erce. and myth In reality the true
anecdotally, more accountants than b nil~ ash a b~llhghter and there are,
The mterplay of mind and space reflects. in rhetoncal and idealized form, u 9 ters m Madrid
the l<.1nd of creative engagement that is aspirattonal for study abroad
studTenhtes .R omanhcs were essentlally cosmopolitan in that they sought Conclusion: This Is a F1·ne Ro mance
to expand their consciousness beyond the parochtal ln a literal sense,
many of them traveled widely and recognized that new locations (par It is apparent that there are man w .
mance resonates with the ende Y ays m which consideration of ro
ticularly the Hellenic and Medtterranean worlds) offered radical ways of
;phor for understanding stude:;~~o f study abroad. It may offer a met:
understanding place as the interaction of senstbihty. h1story, geography,
omanttc tmagination, it represents ;~gement w1:h new spaces; in the
and myth. Perception 1s redefined and transformed 1n the process. The orm of ennched and heightened
redehnitton of perception is a core value m study abroad.
f>;, ,.,. ( • xv
xiv • Michael woon
BF labn ning, .T im 2010 The Ro mant1c Revoluti L
er er. Mtchael 2010 Romanticism A on ondon We,denreld and Nicolson
sens1bihty that could prohtably disturb and disrupt students' precon University Press Very Short Jntroducuon Oxrord Oxford
ceptions; 1n an alternative sense. it should teach us what to avO\d the
Galltz. Kathryn Calley Romant1c1sm D
dissemination of unchallenged stereotypes ropohlan Museum of Art. http //w~;r~ment of European Pa1nlmgs. Met
Perhaps most signihcant\y the Romantic Movement reminds us of roma hlm. accessed 29 Apnl 2015 etmuseum org/toah/hd/roma/hd
the power that creauve thought and imaginative introspection has to
Johnson, Martha 2012 'C1 t Y as Relat.io nship· I Tl
reshape ways in which we see the world. If our students \earn what ronments as the Classroom in Ed . n ,e City as Text Urban Envr
Michael Ferber identifies as a key element in the Romantic imagination. s EGdnusctwatoioond and M Woolf. 32 35 u(°ant1doonn A abnroda dB.o Ostcocna siCoAnPaAl P Ia np 1ee rrn 1a. te>do n;a l
we w1\l surely ennch thetr hves:
helley. P.e rcy Bysshe 1817 "M onl Bl ane Lme W
'The imagination was not a b\anl< slate. not just the passive power to In History or a Six Weeks .,,.,o ur th rough as ntten m the Vale of Chamou rn •
register. remember and compare perceptions or ·images· but an active many and Holland London Hookham part of France. Switzerland. Ger-
power to shape the perceptions themselves in fundamental ways And
Wordsworth, Wilham 1888 'The P I 177
Poetical Works London Macm:~a~de. Book Fourteenth. In The Complete
everyone had it (2010 xx)
In Blanning's v1ew "the romantic revo\utton ts not over yet" (2010· 186).
The potential for profound alteration remains within a\l of us as we con
template, explore, and analyze the troubled spaces of our world.
Dr. Michael Woolf is the deputy president for strategic development at
CAPA Global Educauon Network. Mike has had much of his career in
an international context. Pnor to working in mainstream mternational
educatton. he taught Amencan literature m the umversities of Hu\\. Mid
dlesex. Padova. and Venice and worked as a researcher-writer for BBC
radio He has held leadership roles in international educatton for many
years with FIE. ClEE. and Syracuse University. He has written widely on
international educatton and cultural studies. He serves on a number of
boards and was a member of the Board of Dnectors of the forum on
Education Abroad trom 2006 to 2012.
Notes
1 Cited in B\anning 2010, 9
2 From a cynical viewpoint ,t may be argued that the exclamation mark. a
recurrent indication of multiple epiphanies m Romantic poetry. 1s a form of
hyperbole that resonates with the kinds of inflated rhetoric famlliar in study
abroad Beyond that somewhat superficial critique. there 1s also a more
positive implication for our \earning objectives
Refecences
Berlin. Isiah 1999 The Roots of Romanticism Princeton. NJ Princeton Univer·
s1ty Press.
.,..
Acknowledgements
PARTI
Introduction
We are grateful to the students who participated in our studies and
contributed to this volume, the study.abroad and volunteering-abroad
professionals who welcomed us as we carried out these studies, col
leagues who commented on our presentation based on these chapters
at the Forum on Educatton Abroad conference in 2013, and our tamtly
and fnends who helped us formulate the ideas and supported us whtle
we engaged in this work. We would also \il<e to thanl< the anonymous
peer revtewers: we have tried to mtegrate mto this volume our reactions
to thetr helpful and stimulating comments The text's dehc1endes are
wholly our responsibility.
CHAPTER 1
Affect and Romance in
Study and Volunteer Abroad
Introducing our Project
Neriko Musha Doerr and Hannah Davis Ta·ieb
Romance 1s at the heart of our travel fever. We romanticize landscapes,
people, languages, and the very fact of movmg across borders, of en
countering and learning something new. of transforming ourselves as
well as others Study abroad and volunteering abroad are fueled by
these passions. by this romance And along with this romantic passion
comes other emotions: fear of the unknown mixed with thrilling at
traction to its temptations; longing for liberation, yearning to make a
difference: guilt about one's privilege; moral righteousness; and hope
for growth, transformation. and enlightenment.
What kind of affect helps students form deep, long·lastmg rela
tionships with people during their travels? What kind of affect thwarts
or dehumanizes encounters? What kind of affect drives study abroad
students to understand their sociocultural surroundings and participate
in wider social activities? What kind of affect leads them to withdraw
into transient observer or consumer pos1t1ons? How do study and vol
unteenng abroad programs generate. shape. or transform such affect?
What drives the romanticization of border-crossing and the construc
tion of the border itself? And how does affect tie in to larger social and
economic structures around us, to neollberal and globalist and other
world transformations, to the subjectiv1t1es of our t1me7 These are the
questions that inspired us to put together this volume.
As a collaborat1on between researchers and study abroad practi
tioners with diverse expertise- cultural anthropology. geography, ed
ucation. foreign language education, and psychoanalysis-this edited
All<_, a "'d Roma'"ln" n SI l d y a1d Vou., teer Abroad • 5
4 • Neril<o M..,sha Oor-rr and Hannah Davis 1a1£b
growing dramatically. but littl
analy~,s of these phenomena~ ser~us attention has been paid to th
volume seeks to explore the romant\c passions and related affect of bor
~menc ans in parncular are be~:a t they suggest about what youn:
der crossmg in the context of study abroad and volunteenng abroad by ecome Thus this volume at one mg and are being encouraged to
students from American colleges and univers,ties professional · · e geared to the scholar and to the
The framework that we bring to this mult,dtsciplinary volume is that
of affect. As we will dtscuss below. we use the notion of affect to fo Our professional motivation 1
::~~:trvention a_nd practical su;;!~~~:~na sk_~ estions with proac·
cus not only on bodily response that cannot be s,gnitied (Buda 2015:
s people instead of creatmg b mm . What kmd of affect
d'Hauteserre 2015). but on how affect is mobilized and managed and
sure our romantic desire and . . oundanes? How can we m
how it shapes subjectivities-and how these processes are embedded in relat1onsh1p with the cultural cunos,ty for the exo\tc do not make ake
broader economtc and polttical processes. in relations of power. ness and redirect emotions nothder mto voyeurism? How can we hour
Why examine study abroad and volunteenng abroad in this way? kl d I or er to hu · ar-
n s of mob1hzatlon and mana em marnze the encounter? What
Fust of all. because of the mtens,ty of the affective load that surrounds
power and domination and inste;d ~nt of affect reduce relations of
study and volunteer abroad. Before travelling the destination is often
In what follows, we will first /emforce egahtanan relations?
surrounded in the mind by a romantic aura. driving and he,ghtening
work and an overview of our app; es~nt a broader theoretical frame-
the destre for change. for discovery. Once the student or volunteer ar
situate th,~ volume's contnbutionti~c to ~ffect We will then go on to
rives at the destination. other. equally strong emotions may come mto upo~ the issue of affect and border four fields whose interests touch
play: love, or shame, or guilt, anger or fear, exhilaranon. deep disap·
longing and the global. affect in the crossing: affect m the national be
pointment. The strength and importance of these emotions is evident.
~elahons. of power, affect in leamin;nco:nter w~th the cultural Other in
and is reflected in their use ,n marketing study abroad and volunteering
introducing the chapters in this vol~ an affect m helping others. After
abroad programs. as well as in the many practices of predeparture and
scnpt that explams how th . me, the chapter ends with a
,s proJect began post·
on-site professionals intended to handle these emotions to enhance
outcomes defined as optimal. and m the wntings of students and vol
unteers about their expenence. Furthermore. m the literature written
by and for study abroad and volunteering abroad professionals. there Affect: Theoretical Frameworks
is growing mterest m looking at emonons and affect and bringing this
aspect of student experience squarely into discussions in the field. Our There is no single theory of affect S
Massumi. one of the mfl ( e,gworth and Gregg 2010) F B
approach to affect. pnmanly anthropolog,cal but also emerging from su . uenttal scholars f ff . or nan
m, 995. 2010). the d1stinctton bet o a ect writing today (cf. Mas-
other nelds. can contnbute to these dtscusstons. and ,s thus of interest 1
as they follow "different logics and we':n emot,on and affect is central
for internattonal education and community serv,ce professionals. Massum, uses the word "emot' ~ertam to different orders· (1995· 88).
This book is also geared for anthropologists. geographers. and
from that point on defined as ,on to m.ean the. quahty of experi~nc~
cultural studies scholars who study affect m globahst/globahzing pro
be mserted into the system of personal. it is a quahfled intensity" t
cesses. encounters with cultural Others. travel and tourism. education. tbly. b ~ d'' Iy and autonomic: passmioena ning Aft ect, m. contrast. is irreduco-
and humanitarian work Our turning of the lens onto study and volun :~1
m, s ~1stmct1ons. wntmg that ·meei Enc Shouse further c\anfles Massu-
teer abroad contributes a new field of affect analysis that focuses on the 0
~:;;.~~~'::s a;: sodaL and affects a,.';;;p:~i~::. and biog~phicaL
construct,on and sustenance of difference in globalist processes. border
d' penence of intensity· (Sh , ect here ,s a non-
crossings involving less apparent relations of power. a field of experiential tiois cussed by Ka ren Rodnguez tn th ouse 2005· 5)· Ju r1 a Krtsteva. as
learning m which what const\tutes ·tearrnng· is not dear. volunteer and 1
ma'::· sha'.ed with other vertebrates,~ vo u~e. distinguishes the emo-
service work. and on intersections of affect and wider political economy.
We cons,der the field of study and volunteering abroad to be a rich. chapt:~~i'°volve reflexive consctou;::,; l~n:::;;:i. w 8h01, cqhu aortee dh ~m-
understudied domain for understanding the emergence of the subjec
tivities of twenty-hrst·century selves. Study and volunteer abroad are