AAPLAC 2024 Call for Proposals

The conference theme of AAPLAC 2024 is Contextualizing Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) within Study Abroad in Latin America. We are especially interested in proposals that align with this theme as it relates to AAPLAC’s long-standing mission of facilitating and strengthening study abroad, intercultural exchange and global learning among Latin American, Caribbean, and US institutions.

Even as the number of US students studying abroad continues to increase, the field of international education confronts increasingly disconcerting questions about its relationship to systemic inequities and structural racism. Programs administered without critical reflection may perpetuate, albeit unintentionally, the unequal distribution of resources and power, particularly when US students and institutions are involved. Meanwhile, the experience of cultural and linguistic immersion can challenge sociocultural identities, values, and learning objectives. In this environment, exchange programs in Latin America present an opportunity for us to rethink our approaches to international education and center Latin American voices in our pedagogy and program management. They provide a framework to consider both the contrasts and paradoxes of contemporary Latin American society and how the goals and structure of our programs reflect, reproduce, or respond to these social realities. How do we work against the replication of imperialist and colonial patterns that are the historical legacy of US-Latin American relationships within our field? How do we increase justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion on predominately white study-abroad programs? What lessons can we learn from the innovations and dynamism of local communities as they respond to oppressive systems of power from the Global North?

This conference invites participants to consider decolonial approaches to education abroad to address oppressive systems and promote justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion within the field. We invite papers, panels, and workshops that challenge conventional understandings of global education, deconstruct curriculums and classrooms, create partnerships with local Latin American experts, redistribute wealth models, prioritize the health and safety of local communities, and revamp current administrative, pre-departure, and onboarding processes to remove barriers of access for diverse students.

We welcome presentations from any professional engaged in fomenting educational and cultural exchange in Latin America and the Caribbean:

• Faculty and professors
• Study Abroad Administrators
• Latin America and Caribbean Non
• Governmental Organizations
• Graduate/Undergraduate Students
• Independent Field Practitioners
• Community Partners