Your identities are intersectional, and you will soon incorporate “student abroad” as one more aspect of your identity. Before applying, we encourage you to consider how the many ways you see yourself as a member of multiple, diverse, intersecting communities will be reflected and experienced when you travel abroad.
In addition to learning about yourself and your place in the world, studying abroad means learning about your host country’s multifaceted society and culture. As you begin your journey, you may find that you are seen and understood by individuals from your host country in a completely new context from how you see yourself, or how you are seen here on campus, in your hometown, or elsewhere in the United States or your home country.
Encounters with new worldviews and perspectives can foster productive intercultural dialogues and greater opportunities for learning, but they can also be surprising, challenging, or even deeply unsettling. These experiences can be growth-producing, but they can also be stressful, so we urge you to prepare yourself and to prioritize your mental, emotional, and physical well-being.
The resources below offer a starting point to help prepare you for international travel and life in your host country.
If you have concerns about any aspect of your identity before, during, or after your study away please contact GEO advisors at geoadvising@duke.edu.
Explore resources on your intersectional identities by visiting GEO’s Considering Your Identity webpage.