“I Feel Small Here, Like a Minority”: Critical Race Hermeneutics of Microaggressions Heard Abroad

Research output: Contribution to conferencePresentation

Abstract

As US American universities increasingly use international programs to develop students’ cross-cultural competency, it is critical to investigate how these programs operate. This paper shares how microaggressions said by students while abroad forced their peers of color and working class peers to self-segregate. “Microaggressions,” which how one student characterized what they heard, are commonplace comments that communicate derogatory beliefs based on race, gender, class, and other identities. Some examples include feeling “tired of ethnic food,” how locals were “so stupid,” and wanting to “stay in a Hilton.” This research is part of a larger mixed methods study on a program to a South American country that comparatively analyzed students’ self-portraits, reflection papers, interviews, and my observation notes. In this paper, I combined Critical Race Theory and hermeneutics to interrogate the pernicious nature of these microaggressions. I argue that such comments must be confronted, especially by program leaders, to disrupt stereotypes.
Original languageAmerican English
StatePublished - 2017
EventInternational Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) -
Duration: May 1 2017 → …

Conference

ConferenceInternational Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI)
Period05/1/17 → …

Keywords

  • Abroad
  • Microaggressions
  • Minorities
  • Race hermeneutics

DC Disciplines

  • Education
  • Curriculum and Instruction

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