“I am feeling alive again”: Transformative learning between two female transnational scholars of color through duoethnography

Abstract

In this study, we, two transnational female scholars of color, explore the dynamics of intercultural interactions initiated through pedagogical collaboration in teaching Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) courses. Initially focused on our students, our collaboration evolved into a profound exchange as we developed a genuine desire to connect and learn from each other, despite being strangers. From July 2022 to March 2024, we engaged in duoethnographic dialogues, examining our intersecting identities and experiences across time, space, and context. Drawing on critical interculturality, we explored how these conversations deepened our understanding of selves in relation to diverse others, including colleagues, students, and the broader global society. Our findings reveal that these conversations, serving as a site for critical friendship and co-mentorship, enabled us to develop critical reflexive approaches to confront our disparities, inequalities, and vulnerabilities within and across our identities as women and ‘non-native’ English speakers in English-medium higher education settings in the U.S. and Japan. This collaborative practice transformed us into critically engaged intercultural selves. Our study illustrates the potential of duoethnography as a powerful tool for promoting critical interculturality among educators and scholars, fostering both intellectual growth and personal and collective transformation.