A critical media study of the ingrained beliefs about international education

In her new book, Documenting the American Student Abroad: The Media Cultures of International Education (Rutgers University Press, 2021), Professor of Film Studies Kelly Hankin explores the documentary media cultures that shape the understanding of study abroad.

“There are a lot of truisms about the practice of study abroad—that it’s transformative, that it will magically turn us into global citizens, that long-term cultural immersion is better than short-term travel,” says Hankin, who has taught in the University’s Salzburg Semester program. However, she adds, the rhetoric and the representation of the experience don’t match.

Documenting the American Student Abroad focuses on media produced by the study abroad stakeholders, from students and vendors to thought leaders and the U.S. government. She examined students’ vlogs; she also looked at the “ubiquitous and quite dubious study abroad ‘video contest,’ which the industry has capitalized on for self-promotion,” she says.

“The field lacks the ability to fully understand the ways in which its own values are often undermined by its media practices,” she says. “Students looking for examples of study abroad experiences online will see industry-backed, award-winning videos of students in full-on holiday mode—jumping in the ocean, on speedboats, or horseback riding.

“We need to help students and study abroad practitioners understand the meaning of the images they produce. Otherwise, the industry will continue to promote study abroad as if it’s a spring break holiday.”