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Session Evaluation Session Recording ViewAttendees 33

Panel Presentation

Mission, Goals, Strategy, and Advocacy

American Identity in Study Abroad – Help or Hindrance?

Wednesday, February 26, 2025
12:45 PM – 1:45 PM US EST
In marketing study abroad, institutions espouse the many benefits, including increased intercultural awareness and the ability to see one’s own country from a new perspective. Providers seek to facilitate these gains through detailed orientations and the provision of co-curricular opportunities. However, this session presents new research that questions who exactly makes those gains, and how we can prepare and support students whose whole identities are reshaped as a result of studying abroad.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand the potential significance of American identity and “Americanness” on students undertaking study abroad programs, and its potential to disrupt, distress, or inhibit meaningful growth.
  • Reflect upon, and continue with, honest and constructive dialogue to collectively strategize about how to maximize meaningful growth for all students pre-, during, and post-study abroad, and to acknowledge that growth can be uncomfortable and destabilizing.
  • Use the shared experiences, research and reflection beyond the sessions within their institutions and with partners in order to work towards making our study abroad programs more equitable, meaningful and realistic in terms of students’ expectations, experiences and longer-term outcomes.