Discourses, Imposters, and Quantum Theory: Reflections on Education Abroad

In reflecting on the history of education abroad (EA) and the field’s future, this paper posits two theoretical models. First, in thinking about the past, I utilize French philosopher Michel Foucault’s notion of the dispositif to analyze how the profession became an ‘epistemic community.’  Second, in looking forward, I highlight EA’s continued embeddedness with positivist social science research and propose a different model: quantum theory. Instead of being wed to Newtonian metaphors around concepts like ‘cause and effect,’ quantum physics gives us different ways of looking at the praxis of the student experience associated with EA, providing a different theoretical lens that is more qualitative in its scope.

Keywords: Dispositifs, Foucault, Imposter Syndrome, Quantum Theory

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