Africanism in America: Exploring Hybrid Identities of African Students in the US
Location
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
Description
PURPOSE: This study interrogates the intercultural experiences of African international students (AIS) in a US Midwestern University. With a focus on West African students, the study explores how students confront and overcome linguistic, cultural, and systemic barriers as they create new dynamic spaces which are neither American nor African, but a mixture of both. SUBJECTS: 12 West African students. METHODS: I utilized ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews to better understand how the AIS engage in ongoing identity negotiation through language, food, cultural expressions, and technology. I conducted 40 hours of participant observation research over a 5-month period and interviewed 12 West African students. OUTCOME: Drawing on the theoretical constructs of hybridity and language ideology, the findings reveal how AIS negotiate identity by using traditional African cultural traits, rooted in what I term Africanism—with new cultural influences, generating unique, fluid and constantly-evolving hybrid identities. Language emerges as a powerful site of hybridity, where students shift between linguistic norms to balance intelligibility and cultural authenticity. These hybrid identities emerge through active, creative processes. IMPACT: The findings offer important implications for higher education, emphasizing the need for more culturally responsive support systems that recognize the distinct experiences of African students. Additionally, the study contributes to the fields of communication and migration studies by advancing a nuanced understanding of identity formation in transnational contexts. By foregrounding the voices of African students, this research challenges monolithic representations of international students and promotes intercultural dialogue in fostering inclusive communities and enriching educational environments.
Africanism in America: Exploring Hybrid Identities of African Students in the US
Hager-Lubbers Exhibition Hall
PURPOSE: This study interrogates the intercultural experiences of African international students (AIS) in a US Midwestern University. With a focus on West African students, the study explores how students confront and overcome linguistic, cultural, and systemic barriers as they create new dynamic spaces which are neither American nor African, but a mixture of both. SUBJECTS: 12 West African students. METHODS: I utilized ethnographic observations and in-depth interviews to better understand how the AIS engage in ongoing identity negotiation through language, food, cultural expressions, and technology. I conducted 40 hours of participant observation research over a 5-month period and interviewed 12 West African students. OUTCOME: Drawing on the theoretical constructs of hybridity and language ideology, the findings reveal how AIS negotiate identity by using traditional African cultural traits, rooted in what I term Africanism—with new cultural influences, generating unique, fluid and constantly-evolving hybrid identities. Language emerges as a powerful site of hybridity, where students shift between linguistic norms to balance intelligibility and cultural authenticity. These hybrid identities emerge through active, creative processes. IMPACT: The findings offer important implications for higher education, emphasizing the need for more culturally responsive support systems that recognize the distinct experiences of African students. Additionally, the study contributes to the fields of communication and migration studies by advancing a nuanced understanding of identity formation in transnational contexts. By foregrounding the voices of African students, this research challenges monolithic representations of international students and promotes intercultural dialogue in fostering inclusive communities and enriching educational environments.