American students/Russian racism

[anne marie devlin]

David, 
Out of the many identity issues facing students living in another culture (be they American or not), race and gender seem to be the most salient.  From what I have witnessed, racism (and sexism) exists at a low but constant level.  Direct attacks or extreme threats are very rare.  Students, especially females, often feel under threat due to a difference in subject positioning.   
 It might be an idea to get your students to read Pellegrino Aveni's book Study Abroad and Second language Use. Constructing the Self.  It's an analysis of ethnographic material - diaries, interviews etc - taken from students in a study abroad programme in Russia.  It gives excellent insight into the difficulties they may experience in expressing their identity.  I can't remember if racism is dealt with in particular, but I think it will be interesting reading nontheless.
AM
 

> Date: Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:56:40 -0500
> From: dmborgmeyer at HOTMAIL.COM
> Subject: [SEELANGS] American students/Russian racism
> To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
> 
> Dorogie kollegi,
> 
> 
> I know that periodically the
> topic of racism and American students studying in Russia has been raised on SEELANGS,
> and I don’t want to revisit the whole topic with my question. However, I have a nontraditional African-American
> student who is interested in studying in Russia through the Critical
> Language Study scholarship program in Ufa, Vladimir, or Kazan. She isn’t concerned about 'petty' racism as
> much as potential threats to her personal safety. Does anyone on the list have recent information, anecdotal or otherwise,
> about African-American students’ experiences and/or racially-motivated violence
> in these places or with this program? 
> Thanks in advance! 
> 
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 
> DB
> 
> 
> *******
> 
> David
> Borgmeyer, Ph.D.
> 
> Assistant
> Professor
> 
> Center for
> International Studies
> 
> Saint Louis
> University
> 
> dborgmey at slu.edu
> 
> 
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