w/Jamie L. Nappi, MSW, LCSW: Building A Human Rights Based Study Abroad & Global Social Work Education Leadership

Send us Fan MailA life-changing “yes” doesn’t always come with a plan or even a passport. Sometimes it begins with a dream...quite literally.  Jamie L. Nappi joins us in the driveway to tell the story of how an unexpected invitation to travel to Vietnam open her ideas about facing fear, leadership, and what it really means to learn from another community. Her guiding mantra from Thich Nhat Hanh “Fearlessness is not only possible, it is the ultimate joy. When you touch non-fear, you are free”. Jamie brings years of clinical social work experience plus doctoral-level research to a question global education often avoids: how do we build study abroad programs that are ethical, rights-based, and genuinely collaborative? We dig into servant leadership, bi-directional learning, and the practical tools she has built for a Vietnam faculty-led study abroad course including a geopolitical positionality self-assessment and a human rights checklist rooted in participation, non-discrimination, strength-based practice, capacity building, activism, and accountability. The goal is simple and hard: center host voices, slow down, and stop confusing “helping” with imposing. We also get real about the risks: saviorism, orientalism, and how social media can turn people into content. Jamie shares why consent and dignity matter in photography, and why sharing images raise urgent questions about privacy, self-determination, and who benefits from a story being told.If you care about ethical travel, human rights-based social work, or study abroad done right, subscribe, share this conversation with a friend, and leave a review so more listeners can find us.Special thanks:We could not have got started without Ellen and her fabulous branding and photos. If you need a photographer or graphic designer, [email protected] Peacock Music for the music into/outro. Looking for a custom sound? Reach out to Johnny.  [email protected] My cousin Gab for sharing your expertise. The best resource and expert to help pull this together. For any podcast assistance, contact [email protected] Monmouth University: School of Social Work; Department of Communication (WXCM 88.9FM); and the Department of Psychology for all your support. Go HawksMy capstone committee, and my fabulous professors and mentors, for pushing me past my comfort zone“Team B” for supporting this…so honored to know you allSpecial thanks to my children, just because <3 humanUpNJ