Study Abroad Soundtracks: Exploring the Role of Music in Cross-Cultural (Re)adaptation among U.S. and International Students

Abstract

This study explores the ways music can facilitate cross-cultural transitions in academic sojourns. It builds on music’s specific capacities for emotionally rich experiences, interpersonal connection and synchronization, and universality. Focus groups and interviews with U.S. and international students reveal that music helped students to establish new routines, become open to new genres, learn about the local culture, connect to others, and manage emotions. In a similar way, music facilitated the re-entry and allowed students to memorialize the study abroad experience. Our findings suggest that music can facilitate cross-cultural transitions via individual and collective experiences of music making and listening.