Sex, Love, and Study Abroad: The Impact of Intimate Relationships in Study Abroad Outcomes
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36366/frontiers.v36i3.917Keywords:
Africa, education abroad, gender, race, religionAbstract
This article makes a case for analysis of romantic relationships during international education programs. Study abroad programs promise cultural immersion and place students in settings where romantic relationships may be the most accessible way to achieve this immersion. Yet programs may fail to prepare students to navigate dating and romance during study abroad. We draw on participant observation and interviews with former study abroad participants, program staff, and host community members in Dakar, Senegal to examine how cross-cultural romances emerge in the study abroad setting. We argue that study abroad programs would benefit from explicit and sustained attention to gender relations, love, and intimacy in pre-departure orientations, upon arrival in host settings, and throughout the duration of the programs. We also contend that romantic relationships during study abroad merit sustained ethnographic inquiry to better understand how and why these relationships take place, how they afford opportunities for student learning, and how they shape perceptions of study abroad learners by the host community.
Abstract in FrenchCet article encourage l’analyse critique des relations amoureuses qui surviennent pendant les programmes d’études à l’étranger. Ces programmes promettent une immersion culturelle et placent des étudiants dans des conditions dans lesquelles les rapports amoureux sont parfois la méthode la plus facile d’accéder à cette immersion. Pourtant, ces programmes risquent de ne pas réussir à préparer les étudiants à naviguer ces rapports de couples pendant leurs études à l’étranger. Ici nous nous appuyons sur l’observation participante et les entretiens avec d’anciens participants aux programmes, le personnel ancien et actuel des programmes, et les membres de la communauté d’accueil à Dakar, au Sénégal, pour examiner comment les liaisons amoureuses interculturelles émergent dans le cadre des études à l’étranger. Nous soutenons que les programmes d'études à l'étranger bénéficieraient d'une attention explicite et soutenue aux relations de genre, à l'amour et à l'intimité dans les orientations préalables au départ, à l'arrivée dans le contexte d'accueil et tout au long de la durée des programmes. Nous soutenons également que les relations amoureuses au cours des études à l’étranger méritent une enquête ethnographique soutenue pour mieux comprendre comment et pourquoi ces relations ont lieu, comment elles offrent des opportunités d’apprentissage aux étudiants et comment elles façonnent les perceptions des étudiants par la communauté d’accueil.
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