Promotion of Study Abroad at a Global South University: A Case Study of The University of the West Indies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v37i3.1044Keywords:
Caribbean, Global South, multimodal discourse analysis, marketing, promotion of study abroad, The University of the West IndiesAbstract
This article critically examines how study abroad (SA) is framed and promoted on the website of The University of the West Indies. Drawing on multimodal critical discourse analysis, the study finds that the case institution sometimes reproduces a heavily commodified neo-liberal script of SA previously observed in the case of Global North contexts such as the United States, but also offers alternative discursive framings that assert the potential of SA to contest geopolitical hierarchies and promote Global South solidarity. The study also finds evidence of a self-conscious harnessing of an externally articulated discourse, in the form of tourist evocations of the island of Barbados, but that these are also ironically subverted by their juxtaposition with other discourses of self-empowerment.
Abstract in SpanishEste artículo analiza de manera crítica cómo se enmarca y promueve el estudio en el extranjero (SA, por sus siglas en inglés) en el sitio web de la Universidad de las Indias Occidentales. Basándose en un análisis crítico multimodal del discurso, el estudio concluye que la institución en cuestión reproduce en ocasiones un guion neoliberal mercantilizado de SA, al igual que se ha observado anteriormente en contextos del Norte Global como Estados Unidos, pero también ofrece marcos discursivos alternativos que afirman el potencial de SA para cuestionar las jerarquías geopolíticas y promover la solidaridad del Sur Global. El artículo también encuentra evidencia de un aprovechamiento intencionado de un discurso generado externamente, en forma de evocaciones turísticas de la isla de Barbados, pero que estas también se subvierten irónicamente por su yuxtaposición con otros discursos de empoderamiento.
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