Pierluca Birindelli
Research
Network: Global, Transnational and Cosmopolitan Sociology
Abstract
Studying abroad is
a growing and institutionalized practice. To find out what young people
are really getting out of it we need to hear their stories and explore the implications
of the educational travel within the broader context of their lives.
This
paper presents preliminary findings about the significance attributed by international
master students in Helsinki and in Florence to their educational, cultural and
overall life experience abroad. Analysis of 50 autoethnographical essays
reveals that most of the subjects had no previous familiarisation with or exposure
to clear-cut narratives about the destination country and city.
We can
indeed find a series of related images, but not sufficient to constitute a
leading narrative for their life experiences in North or South Europe. The
trace of a well-defined script derived from a structured story, such as a book
or a movie, is absent. It is instead possible to catch a glimpse of a vague cosmopolitan
narrative. This story, constructed on a global scale by different actors and institutions,
is partially disconnected from the society and culture of the countries of
destination or provenance.
The
story upholds the validity of studying abroad for both instrumental and
expressive reasons. And the practice seems to constitute a liminal and transitional space-time: an institutionalized rite of
passage towards adulthood and global citizenship. It’s an undefined story
without exemplary characters, so it’s up to the individual student to find heroes
and villains along the way to construct his or her idea of who is a good citizen
of the world.
Key words: international
students, cultural experience, narratives, cosmopolitan, north Europe, south
Europe
