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Description
This chapter addresses the nature of academic travel and some of the professional and personal dividends the 2013 University of Dayton Global Education Seminar trip to Argentina and Peru offered. It examines the power dynamics involved when entering unfamiliar nations and spaces in the interest of research, along with the shifting nature of identity in the context of such travel. It suggests that the lines between academic travel and tourism are fluid and contingent, and asserts that one of the merits of engaging in this form of travel (among others) is that it invites self-awareness about one’s place in the world and one’s relationship to others (as mediated by such factors as nationality, language, education, and socioeconomic status). A critical component of this self-awareness came through being in a position of otherness vis-à-vis the spaces and peoples encountered and experiencing unaccustomed vulnerabilities. Through a series of experiences the chapter shows that vulnerability, humility, and need can open doors to meaningful and transformative human connections not often available in the more comfortable and secured home environment.
Publication Date
2015
Disciplines
International and Area Studies | Latin American Studies | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recommended Citation
Szeghi, Tereza M., "Humility, Otherness, and Immersion: Reflections on Traveling in South America" (2015). Perspectives on South America: Reminiscence of the University of Dayton Global Education Seminar. 10.
https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cip_ges/10
