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Abstract
This study explores the experiences of 13 undergraduate participants in a short-term, English-medium, micro-campus study abroad program in Italy. It examines their engagement in a pedagogical intervention regarding the social construction and interpretation of “culture” during the students’ participation within an Italian language course in the study abroad program. John Dewey’s theory of experience frames the intervention which incorporates ethnographic and arts-based pedagogies to promote critical thinking and a move towards understanding “culture” as a nuanced and complex concept. This study drew upon qualitative case study methodology and critical discourse analysis to understand the student experience both within the study abroad program and during their participation in the experiential learning inquiry project. Findings illuminate that students are not only influenced by their socially constructed habits, including their exposure to the discourses and rhetoric surrounding study abroad and Italy, but also that their perceptions are informed by their social and economic capital. The structure of the program itself further impacted how participants participated in, interpreted, and later described their study abroad experiences. While the arts-based experiential learning project helped students to challenge their original assumptions of “Italian culture” to arrive at a more complex understandings of culture as a dynamic concept, they struggled to apply critical thinking beyond their focal project topics and beyond the confines of the program. These findings complicate a singular understanding of the student study abroad experience. They further challenge assumed learning outcomes related to culture and instead promote reframing culture as a continual learning process of cultural hybridity requiring intentional programming with greater consideration to students’ existing frames of reference and interpretive lenses.