Presentation
“I Feel Small Here, Like a Minority”: Critical Race Hermeneutics of Microaggressions Heard Abroad
International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI)
(2017)
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.
Keywords
- Minorities,
- Race hermeneutics,
- Microaggressions,
- Abroad
Disciplines
Publication Date
2017
Location
Urbana-Champaign, IL
Citation Information
Peggy A. Shannon-Baker. "“I Feel Small Here, Like a Minority”: Critical Race Hermeneutics of Microaggressions Heard Abroad" International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (ICQI) (2017) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/peggy-shannon-baker/8/