Either Here or There: Short‐Term Study Abroad and the Discourse of Going

This article examines practices surrounding short‐term study abroad, focusing on how its outsourcing to professional agencies can shape student encounters abroad. Through ethnographic work in Southeast Asia, I explore the “exposure model” of intercultural learning relied on by many programs. I argue that for‐profit providers, catering to administrative and neoliberal exigencies in higher education, have fostered an uncritical “discourse of going,” which subordinates consideration of pedagogical goals and outcomes to the imperative of increasing participation.