I am happy to report publication of “Between fan pilgrimage and dark tourism: competing agendas in overseas field learning,” another article that stems from the field study experience. In this paper I introduce sources of conflict that may pull a fieldtrip itinerary in different directions – including student “fandom” for a particular site (neighborhood, city, country) cultivated through engagement with popular culture, and the desire by faculty to complicate simplistic student narratives of a place, often by highlighting rather “dark” histories or present injustices.

This paper is part of an international symposium on overseas fieldtrips in the Journal of Geography in Higher Education, which gathers together a handful of excellent scholarship related to this topic. The link for the paper is here.

Abstract: An overseas field learning itinerary can be a powerful pedagogical tool for both directing student attention and complicating preexisting spatial narratives. However, one must beware of using the itinerary to replace one narrative with another. This paper examines the itinerary negotiation for a 15-day overseas field module conducted three consecutive years. It uses the concepts of fan pilgrimage and dark tourism to explain the inclusion of two destinations and introduces a student-led research project that produced nuanced understandings of Japan’s rural geographies. Evidence comes from reflective field diaries, oral debrief sessions, written assignments, and an anonymous post-module survey.