Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is a rapidly growing learning format that connects U.S. students with peers and faculty around the world. COIL courses exemplify Agnes Scott’s SUMMIT goals for professional success: Students build intercultural proficiency, communicative skills, and critical thinking while working on exciting interdisciplinary liberal arts projects in a global context. Over the last couple of years, Thanks to support from the Stevens Initiative, Agnes Scott College has established a connection with Zayed University in the United Arab Emirates and with Al Akhwayn University in Morocco. We are excited that we can now add courses with connections to the American University in Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, and UniCuritiba, Brazil, to our lineup. Students interested in any of the courses below can enroll via AscAgnes and contact the Center of Global Learning with any questions:
POL 373 / WS 373 Middle East Politics & Societies (COIL)
Special Topic: “Gender in Media & Art in Kurdish Society”
This course will introduce students to some of the major contemporary political and social developments of the Middle East and North Africa. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, our guiding theme for the semester will be “Gender in Media & Art in Kurdish Society”, and we will use the case of Iraqi Kurdistan to explore, discuss and learn about issues of politics and societies in the Middle East through this unique lens. Students will work in guided collaboration with both students and faculty at the American University of Iraq in Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, giving them an in-the-field-type, ethnographic experience that offers a more nuanced and complex understanding of politics and societies of this highly politicized region.
During their asynchronous and synchronous encounters with AUIS students and faculty, students will engage in rapport building activities to establish mutual trust, develop friendship, and affinity with their counterpoint, helping students to think about what it means to establish good interpersonal relationships across the boundaries of language and culture.
This course will be taught by Autumn Cockrell-Abdullah, Ph.D. (ASC Department of Political Science) and COIL aspects of this course will be taught in tandem with Munirah Eskander, M.A.
The American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) represents the region’s diverse ethnic and religious landscape as the University continues to be the destination of choice for top students from all over the Kurdistan region, Iraq, and beyond. In 2006, the Board of Trustees of American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS) set out to establish an institution dedicated to offering a truly comprehensive liberal arts education, based on the American model, for the benefit of Kurdistan, Iraq, and the wider region.
The University has grown significantly in the ensuing years and now offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs in 23 different programs. These programs, taught in English by international faculty members, are designed to encourage critical thinking and lifelong learning, and have a lasting impact not only on our students’ futures but also on the future of the entire region.
Students are prepared for successful careers in a modern, pluralistic society and in a global environment. The educational programs at AUIS develop strength in critical thinking, the ability to communicate well, a strong work ethic, good citizenship, and personal integrity. A broad-based education rooted in the American liberal arts tradition as well as skills development is achieved at the University through teaching excellence, quality scholarship, and caring student services. More about AUIS: https://auis.edu.krd/
POL 260 The Legal Systems of Brazil and the United States
An overview of these very different legal systems will introduce students to topics such as the difference between common law and civil law systems; the brief, largely procedural constitution of the US vs. the fuller, more substantive Brazilian constitution; the different court structures; the approaches to various fundamental areas of law such as employment law, property, and corporate law; and the legal professions in the US and Brazil.
The hybrid (in-person and virtual) class format will center on synchronous meetings on Zoom most weeks until mid-November (with time at the end of the semester for projects). Meeting for about 2 hours, these weekly sessions will be devoted to describing each country’s approach to an aspect of the legal system, with time for students to discuss topics with their counterparts online. Language of instruction is English.
The course will be led by Professor Viviane Sellos Knoerr, Coordinator of the Graduate Law Programs of Unicuritiba, a private university in Curitiba, Brazil, and Gus Cochran, Professor of Political Science, Agnes Scott College.
ENG 125 Digital Storytelling
Digital Storytelling is a course about the uses of modern technologies to extend our understanding of narrative forms, and it focuses on the development of media-rich narratives created with selected productivity tools, such as film and audio editing software. The course is project-based, and students produce stories for critique and dissemination via the Internet. In fall 2023, students in the course will partner with students in a course in New Media Technologies at Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco to create interview-based short podcast episodes.
This course will be led by Dr. Toby Emert, Agnes Scott College, and Dr. Bouziane Zaid, professor of communication studies at Al Akhwayn University. Language of instruction is English
