Florida International University issued the following announcement on Oct. 22.
FIU Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) will expand its impactful global learning courses to connect students and faculty across national borders with the help of a $25,000 grant from 100,000 Strong in the Americas.
FIU, partnered with the Universidad Católica de Manizales (UCM) in Colombia, is one of 10 winners of the 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund Grant Competition for 21st Century Higher Education partnerships.
Innovation Fund supports dynamic higher education partnerships, increases student training and exchange programs and strengthens regional education cooperation and competitiveness throughout the Americas.
The fund’s project, “Designing Alternative and Digital Strategies to Build U.S.- Colombia Multidisciplinary Intercultural Identities,” combines COIL and mobility experiences to strengthen creative and cultural education on campuses.
“It has truly been an honor to be invited to partner with UCM on this grant,” said Director of COIL Stephanie Doscher. “The energy and creativity behind this project are awesome—we’ve barely begun and we are already spinning off extra activities that weren’t planned in the proposal.”
Building upon FIU’s experience creating hundreds of impactful global learning courses across the curriculum, FIU COIL uses technology to connect students and faculty with their peers across national borders. COIL (pioneered by SUNY) brings diverse faculty and students together across disciplines, time zones, language and culture to engage in intercultural dialogue and meaningful projects. COIL deepens knowledge, broadens perspectives, fosters personal growth, and opens doors to new connections for students and faculty alike.
Honors College COIL Faculty Fellow Niurca Márquez and Honors College Faculty Fellows Barbara Cotto Jimenez and Maikel Alendy have each partnered with UCM faculty to design a team-based COIL project to be embedded in their courses during Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. FIU and UCM students will also travel to each other’s campuses in Summer 2022 to facilitate public displays of COIL projects.
Márquez works closely with FIU COIL to expand the program within the Honors College. She recruits, matches, and trains faculty with participants and connects them to a range of global learning opportunities within FIU and beyond.
“Students in the Honors College are already at the center of interdisciplinary learning and undergraduate excellence at FIU,” said Márquez. “My hope for the students involved in this and future COIL projects is that they also engage in complex problem-solving through intercultural collaborative experiences and walk away with an understanding of intercultural communication and its importance for success.”
Original source can be found here.
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