Thursday’s “Tourism & Study Abroad: Problematics and Paradoxes” panel encouraged viewing study abroad as an empathy-driven cultural immersion—not a tourist trip.
It began with a short documentary, “Framing the Other,” in which a Dutch tourist travels to the basin of the Omo River in the East African state of Ethiopia and takes pictures of the Mursi tribe in exchange for money.
Mursi women are known for placing large plates in their lower lips, which has attracted many tourists in recent years. Posing for tourists has become their main source of income, and tribe members even embellish their outfits to make more money, according to the documentary.
Robert Peaslee, associate professor and chairman of the Department of Journalism and Electronic Media, said he shows this documentary to his students before study-abroad trips, and students usually react negatively toward the European character.
“A concept that we talk about in a class that I teach is tourism,” Peaslee said. “This is a helpful way to bring it in focus, even though we’re not going to Ethiopia or anything even close.”
The panel was part of the Open Teaching Concept 2015: With Liberty and Justice for All – On the Politics of Plurality, Poverty, Privilege and Prejudice series, hosted by the Cross-Cultural Academic Advancement Center.
Natalie Morales/ The Hub@TTU
Jerod Foster, assistant professor of practice in the College of Media & Communication, and Elizabeth McDaniel, senior director of international education and enrollment management, accompanied Peaslee on the panel.
Peaslee and Foster lead a study abroad trip to New Zealand, which is relatively familiar to students culturally, but Peaslee still thinks this documentary is eye-opening for students who are about to visit another country.
Foster said he teaches students to act like professional photographers, but this can be difficult when you are abroad and look like a tourist.
“I try my best to avoid situations like that,” Foster said. “I try to tell my students to at least be reflexive enough of their environment and the context in which they are operating.”
Foster said he personally tries to avoid situations like the one presented in the documentary, but experienced something similar when he was on a job in Mexico. On his way back to Texas, he saw an older gentleman with a decrepit accordion around his neck.
“He ended up being a blind gentleman that crossed the street throughout the day, playing his accordion,” Foster said. “I had an interest in photographing this man, and at the time, I was doing a lot of reading on really engaging the international other in photography.”
He and his companion stopped the car and got out, realizing the man was blind. Once Foster took three photographs, something the man could hear, Foster’s business partner put some pesos in his hand.
“I remember immediately when we were walking back to the truck that was not cool for me to do,” Foster said. “That was the first time I felt a little icky about it, and I was by myself in a professional context.”
McDaniel said study abroad is an intellectual endeavor.
“We hope that students are going to engage in the culture they are in and not just see it as another photo opportunity,” McDaniel said. “That’s a challenge.”
Picture by Blake Silverthorn during the Summer 2014 study-abroad trip to New Zealand.
McDaniel said students get a better study-abroad experience if they choose to embrace the culture and not act like typical tourists.
“It can have a profound impact on our students’ lives, but it really takes an effort on their part,” McDaniel said.
She said study abroad encourages many students to look at a broader world and reflect on their experiences once they return home.
“For a lot of students, that opens up a world of possibilities that they might not have had before,” McDaniel said.
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