Being Bad Guests: Teaching Ethnic Studies with Study Abroad

In this essay, I argue that Ethnic Studies-based approaches to racism and colonialism can improve student learning during study abroad. These approaches can further extend learning impact beyond that of diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. I outline how every host site can support attention to race and colonialism, explain the dangers of ignoring racism and colonialism during international learning sojourns, describe the need to specifically attend to whiteness, and illustrate my argument with three brief case studies of pedagogical and program design outcomes from recent study abroad trips to England and Japan. The essay intends to expand the “locations” where attention to issues of race and colonialism can be appropriately applied in order to make interventions in program design. For faculty who lead programs and to study abroad staff who organize and initiate programs, the essay offers tools and frameworks to more effectively combat racism at home and abroad as well as to avoid colonial travel practices.