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Chapter 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-5225-0169-5.ch023
ABSTRACT
Colleges and universities have increasingly worked to provide an international curriculum acknowledg-
ing that students must be prepared to deal with international issues in a globalized world. Study abroad
programs provide students with opportunities to learn about cultural and linguistic systems outside the
United States (US). While scholarship on learning outcomes associated with study abroad programs is
emerging, inquiry into oferings that employ critical disability studies perspectives acknowledge power
and intersectionality is absent. The inclusion of these frameworks provide opportunities to disrupt tra-
ditional, hegemonic, and ethnocentric understandings of knowledge and work to refect the increasingly
diverse demographics of college students. By examining the experiences of students on a short-term
program to Brazil, the authors illustrate how disability studies, inclusive education, culturally relevant
pedagogy and intersectionality address access, participation and learning outcomes to and about his-
torically underrepresented groups.
INTRODUCTION
This chapter promotes intersectional teaching and learning strategies in the creation of postsecondary
short-term study abroad programs for preservice teachers. Drawing from examples of a program visit
to Brazil, the instructors disrupted hegemonic claims of knowledge and fostered cross-cultural ways
of teaching and learning. Employing the principles of critical disability studies, ‘Universal Design
for Learning’ (UDL) and democratic education, three main themes guided the program structure: (1)
culturally relevant visits; (2) inclusive education; and (3) intersectionality. This work attempted to dis-
Beyond Accommodations:
Study Abroad in Brazil, Teacher
Preparation, and Global Consciousness
Fernanda Orsati
Husman Institute for Autism, USA
Lauren Shallish
The College of New Jersey, USA