One of the main objectives of my Fulbright Specialist project with the Great Lakes Center for the Study of the United States at Makerere University was to develop connections between scholars in the Department of Political Science at Makerere University with US-based scholars working on similar research and teaching themes.
As part of this effort, I presented a faculty development workshop on Virtual Global Exchange.
Virtual Global Exchange, or VGE, is an educational experience that connects students with peers from diverse cultural backgrounds and geographic locations through online platforms. It facilitates cross-cultural interactions, promotes international collaboration, and enhances intercultural competence without the need for physical travel.
I was absolutely thrilled that my collaborator for more than 15 years -
LARISA PATLIS from
ULIM in Moldova - was able to join the workshop and to present about the impacts of the VGE for her students in Moldova!
We kicked off the workshop giving examples of best practices -- and lessons learned from the 15-year USF-ULIM partnership. Over the years we have collaborated on
**Semester-long research projects (10-12 weeks)
**Short-term research partnership (2-4 weeks)
**One-day conversations/engagement (e.g., Constitution Day event)
In each case we were connecting students in my classroom at USF in St. Petersburg, Florida and her classroom at ULIM in Chisinau, Moldova.
We first talked about our Comparative Legal Research Project -- a 10-week research partnership that we have implemented many times.
The objective of the research project was to give the students the opportunity to work in groups with partners overseas on a comparative legal research project comparing decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) involving similar legal questions. This project was designed to develop students’ legal research and writing skills and to enhance students’ understanding of the ECtHR in comparison to the SCOTUS.
For more about the project, see our project blog: https://comparativelegalresearch.blogspot.com/
and this article
“Creating a Global Classroom: International
Collaborative Legal Research Partnerships.” Vol. 1, No. 1 (2024) Journal of Legal
and Political Education pp. 1-17. https://e-jlia.com/index.php/jlpe/article/view/1487
An example of one of our "one-time" collaborations: Constitution Day. In 2024 we got our students from Florida and from Moldova together (virtually) to discuss Constitutions and Presidential Elections. (There were presidential elections in Moldova (October 20) and the US (November 5).
After sharing our experiences and lessons learned during the long-term, short-term, and one-time VGE collaborations, we then turned to the hands-on portion of the workshop.
During the workshop we covered the following topics:
*What is VGE
*Key Elements of VGE
*Benefits of VGE
*Navigating Interdisciplinary Collaborati
*Challenges in Intercultural Collaboration
*Strategies to Build Intercultural Competence
*Utilizing Technology Effectively
*Backward Design (and worksheet)
*Self-reflection (and worksheet)
*Planning and Preparation (and worksheet)
*VGE Activity Sequence (icebreaker, collaboration, reflection)
*Partnership Building
*Finding International Partners
*Breakout Session
*Q&A - Discussion - Next Steps
The most exciting part of the workshop was hearing the faculty share their ideas for the courses and assignments that could lend themselves to this kind of international cooperation.
For example, a Biology professor incorporates an assignment where students go out and get samples of diseased plants which are brought back to the lab and analyzed for what is the cause of the disease. Wouldn't that be in interesting assignment to include in a botany class in the US -- and then have the students meet to compare and contrast the various ecosystems and the other environmental factors that may influence the plants?
A religion professor has students interview members of various faiths and write reflection papers. This project also lends itself to be incorporated in a companion course in the US - and for the students to gain a deeper understanding through a comparative analysis with their international colleagues.
These VGE assignments give our students the opportunity to think more deeply about the subject matter and to think about their course topics from varied perspectives. It is so gratifying to observe students working with their international partners.
We also discussed next steps -- how to take these ideas for possible collaboration and to identify a partner in the US, find a companion course, develop the assignment, etc.
We are working with the International Relations Office and the Center for the Study of the US at Makerere University to keep moving the proposals for VGE collaboration forward.
We plan for the first courses with VGE components to be "live" in the Fall 2026 semester. Stay tuned!
Special Thanks to USF World and the Faculty Learning Community (FLC) devoted to Virtual Global Exchange during the 2024-25 academic year. And to the FLC Facilitator Dr. Nazek Jawad, whose FLC materials I adapted for this presentation at Makerere University.
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| It was so wonderful to have Larisa Patlis co-presenting at the workshop! |
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| LARISA PATLIS presenting live from Chisinau, Moldova |
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| Larisa Patlis presenting from Moldova |
Presentation of Certificates -- the Director of the International Relations Office Matthias Ssemanda, the Director of the Center for the Study of the United States, Dr. Edward Kaweesi, and Dr JSM:
See also the CHUSS article about our VGE Workshop
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