The most important concepts that have shaped my research are global competence, elitism/classism, and American attitude of Europe and Europeans. Beth McMurtrie's idea of global competence encompasses the idea that it is important for people to become educated about other languages and cultures while forming relationships with people around the globe in order to move forward in their profession. She argues that while the United States has a strong connection with Europe, it is more "cliche" to form those connections with people in Europe because it has been done before, and that making connections with people from other countries such as those in Asia, Africa, or Latin America are much more novel and valuable, which is one factor that could potentially contribute to American students' tendency to study in the U.S. and American universities' heavy handed advertisement of study abroad in non-European countries. The idea of global competence also ties into the concept of elitism. As Neriko Doerr mentions, the things that we consider to comprise global competence (learning a new language, culture, etc) are things that the upper classes are rewarded for, but for lower class and immigrant families, these things are not seen as relevant and are often necessary for them to assimilate into American or college culture, so they are expected. A student from a white, upper class family may receive a pat on the back for studying abroad in Spain and learning Spanish, but children from Spanish-speaking families are expected to learn English as part of the "culture," and they are certainly not rewarded if they do so, but punished by other members of society if they do not. Additionally, the idea that a study abroad in Europe is more like a vacation than a time to pursue education makes European study unnecessary and inaccessible to students who are already unable to keep up with the demand of course load in addition to paying tuition. Finally, Michael Woolf paints a picture of America's romanticized version of Europe, which also plays into the idea that a study abroad in Europe is more of a getaway than a time for learning. He uses the idea of Disney's Magic Kingdom to demonstrate that America has created its own imagined version of Europe that is very vague, distant, and fairy tale like, which is the expectation that American students bring with them when they travel to a study abroad.
I am thinking about writing my final paper about college in other countries as compared to the United States. During a recent visit to Austria, I learned that tuition is free or very affordable there as well in many other countries, but the attendance there is much lower as high school graduates often choose to go to trade school or enter the workforce. I thought this was very interesting, because in the United States tuition is much higher, and more often than not forces students and their families into debt for many years, but there is so much pressure for high school graduates to attend university. I would particularly like to explore the demographics of students attending universities in both settings.
Comments
Post a Comment