A Semester on the Road to Santiago: The Long-term Impacts of Walking the Camino de Santiago with a Family-like Study Abroad Group
In this paper, research findings are presented from a small, longitudinal study using qualitative data on the long-term impacts of a unique, semester-long, study abroad program at Franklin Pierce University. In this programme, students study the history and contemporary renaissance of the Camino de...
| Published in: | The international journal of religious tourism and pilgrimage |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Dublin Institute of Technology
2023
|
| In: |
The international journal of religious tourism and pilgrimage
|
| Further subjects: | B
internal impacts
B Camino de Santiago B Liberal Education B study abroad B Longitudinal Study |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this paper, research findings are presented from a small, longitudinal study using qualitative data on the long-term impacts of a unique, semester-long, study abroad program at Franklin Pierce University. In this programme, students study the history and contemporary renaissance of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage and then walk the entire route in northern Spain as pilgrims. Alumni who participated in one of four trips conducted in the fall of 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 were asked in 2022 to respond to five open-ended questions about how their semester abroad impacted their lives, to what degree they thought their study-abroad group functioned as a ‘family’ and how that impacted their experience. Twenty-one alumni responded to the questionnaire; all indicating to varying degrees that the program had life-changing impacts that had influenced and were continuing to shape their lives. Their responses are organised into seven themes that describe the long-term impacts of the program. The researcher’s interpretations also draw on his memories and extensive field notes on experiences that occurred on the four trips, as well as the reflective essays students wrote based on their personal journals immediately upon their return from their semester abroad. The results are situated in the context of research on short and long-term impacts of study abroad and within the liberal education mission of U.S. institutions of higher education. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 2009-7379 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The international journal of religious tourism and pilgrimage
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.21427/BECZ-FC76 |