The most recent issue of Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad , includes research conducted by four members of the SLU faculty and staff. Reflecting on issues of decolonization within off-campus study, two articles in the special issue "Listening to and Learning from Partners and Host Communities: Amplifying Marginalized Voices in Global Learning." Learn more about these ongoing research projects below.
Director of Off-Campus Study Caitlin Hatz is a co-author of "Reimagining Risk Management: Decolonizing Crisis Response Through Holistic Partnership Building in Education Abroad"
Abstract
This article uses a case study approach to reimagine risk management in education abroad programming. It brings together a group of program partners to explore pre-COVID risk management decision-making during political unrest in Ecuador in 2019. Through continued dialogue and self-directed creative reflection techniques, the partners (a Dean of International Education and Study Abroad Director from a college in the United States, the Executive Director and Resident Director from the program provider, a local participant from the host community, and a student from the semester’s cohort), all of whom are co-authors, overcome geographical distance and language barriers to reflect on their experiences over the entire process. Recognizing that COVID-19 changed how education abroad approaches risk management and responding to how movements for social justice are calling for diverse participation in policy decisions, the authors explore the Ecuador case study as a way to confront their biases and assumptions, as well as those projected in our field. Placing special focus on the colonizing nature of Global North to Global South partnerships, the article calls for a greater conversation of decolonizing risk management, ending with lessons learned and recommendations for enhancing partnerships to better serve students, communities, and institutions of higher education as a collective whole.
Assistant Director of Academics and Student Life Michael Wairungu, Hanson Associate Dean and Professor of History Matt Carotenuto and KSP Senior Driver and Head Mechanic Njau Kibochi published their collaborative research "African Homestays and Community Engagement: A Case Study on Reciprocity and Neocolonialism"
Abstract
Do homestays benefit host communities, perpetuate neocolonial relationships, or both? While the St. Lawrence Kenya-Semester Program (KSP) has centered homestays as an essential component of experiential learning and community engagement since 1972, this article flips the script and places homestay families at the center of knowledge production on study abroad. Drawn from 15 years of homestay experiences in Nyeri and Kericho counties, we situate this program as an important case study to analyze host community perceptions of the benefits and challenges of homestays for rural agricultural Kenyan communities and the implications this has for study abroad assessment and community engagement.