Conference

What Study Abroad Taught Me about Anti-Racist Student Affairs Practice

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Abstract

As a junior in college, I had the incredible privilege to study abroad in Angers, France. During this experience, I was able to see racism from a different lens. The French lens. At the time, France was still recovering from their most recent terrorist attack, which had occurred in November 2015, only two months prior to my arrival. During my stay, another attack occurred in Belgium, only 6 hours from where I lived. In the aftermath of these attacks, I soon began to see the ways in which racial profiling of Islamic or Islamic-presenting folks was excused under the guise of nationalism. In the years since my return, I have seen similar incidents occurring evermore frequently with the white nationalist movement. My graduate studies inspired me to reflect on this experience, particularly as it relates to student affairs. In France, student affairs is nonexistent and international students report feeling isolated and unhappy. During this session, we will explore the lessons learned from my experience in higher education without student affairs, what the impact is on our students, as well as the implications of nationalist-fueled racism on our work with students here.