Global Citizenship and the Purpose of Study Away: Angers, France (BB)

The Purpose of Study Away

After reading several articles that talk about the study abroad experience and the idea of global citizenship, I really started to think about everything that the articles discussed and whether or not I agreed with their stances. They all attempted to discuss the purpose of study abroad, and reading them prompted me to think about why I chose to study in France.

Allegheny College offers so many opportunities for its students to travel abroad for higher learning, but I was a bit limited with my choices. For the french program, the two main options are a hybrid internship/university program in Paris and a university program in Angers. I chose my program in Angers because I felt more comfortable in a smaller city and it offered me the chance to take enough courses to be able to turn my french minor into a major. To me, study abroad was the chance to return to a country that I had fallen in love with when I first visited a few years ago with my high school french class and also the chance to learn the language by completely immersing myself in it. I also wanted to learn about the french culture, but to be honest, it is not nearly as different from the United States as my experience may have been if I had studied in a country with a much lower income. One article I read in preparation for writing this article was called “Americans Can't Be Global Citizens”, and it discussed a student who had a very different experience than I had. It was written by a student who studied in low income countries like Nepal and Tibet, where being an American was the main reason the student was not able to fit in with the locals. Here in France, I am often mistaken for a citizen before I start speaking my American accented French because I come from a country that is very similar socially and economically. I will always value the time I have spent in France, but it is much more similar to the United States than a country from a different income level may have been.

French youth protesting employment legislation

In “The Liberal Arts and Global Citizenship”, another article I read in anticipation of writing this blog post, the author discussed the importance of teaching college students about diversity and also focusing on race, class, and other factors. This same idea was also referenced in “Americans Can't Be Global Citizens”, except in the second article, the author acknowledges her privilege (she says she basically purchased the hospitality of a third world family to “better herself”) and questions why her curriculum did not address this idea of privilege. Studying in France, I have not felt this exact feeling because we are learning about the culture here, but also because it is so close to the United States in terms of social and economic development. One large issue that is currently affecting French youth is that the youth unemployment rate is at an all time high and legislation is currently being passed that will make it even more difficult for French youth to seek jobs. I witnessed a protest in Angers, it was made up of university students who were protesting the new employment legislation, and it reminded me that the same issues are also being faced by many of my fellow students in the United States who will soon be graduating.

When I look back on my time abroad and share my memories with family and friends I will definitely mention that I feel lucky to be privileged enough to have spent a semester abroad, learning about a new culture and improving my skills in a foreign language. I had not really considered it before reading the articles for this post, but after reading them, I realize I have had an opportunity that many people have not had. I come from a college and also an area where study abroad seems to be the cultural norm. Many people I am friends with on Facebook from high school are also abroad at this time. Someone from a different culture may be in awe of our opportunities, but it is so common in the region where I live it just seems like a coincidence that so many people I know are studying abroad during the same semester. I feel that to truly be a global citizen, if such a thing is even possible, that it is important to recognize the opportunity that I have received and to treat it as a special event in my life, not just something that I did in college because I had the chance.