Scribd
Upload
77 views3 pages

COIL Reflection Prompts (Spring 2020)

The student explored the impact of the coronavirus on different cultures with international peers. While the virus itself was universally familiar, the personal interpretations of its effects varied greatly between individualistic and collective cultures. The student found their perspective on how cultures handled the outbreak was strengthened by seeing how much worse individualistic cultures fared. The most interesting part was sharing viewpoints in breakout groups on Yuval Noah Harari's stances on the pandemic's impact on humanity. The collaboration reinforced the importance of cross-cultural communication for increasing knowledge.

Uploaded by

Aldo Vlahovljak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
77 views3 pages

COIL Reflection Prompts (Spring 2020)

The student explored the impact of the coronavirus on different cultures with international peers. While the virus itself was universally familiar, the personal interpretations of its effects varied greatly between individualistic and collective cultures. The student found their perspective on how cultures handled the outbreak was strengthened by seeing how much worse individualistic cultures fared. The most interesting part was sharing viewpoints in breakout groups on Yuval Noah Harari's stances on the pandemic's impact on humanity. The collaboration reinforced the importance of cross-cultural communication for increasing knowledge.

Uploaded by

Aldo Vlahovljak
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

LaGuardia Community College

Post-COIL Student Reflection Prompt


Please reflect on your COIL experience in this course, using the following questions to guide your
narrative. Your reflection should be at least 500 words.

1. What topic (global issue) did you explore with your international peers?

Besides the unavoidable topic of cultural differentiation, the main point of discussion was the impact of
the coronavirus on society and the economy and the future consequences thereof, such as global
surveillance. We discussed, in detail, how differentiating cultures (collective and individualistic) dealt
with the outbreak and whether the measures taken were justifiable. There was also word about how the
coronavirus impacted current events, global or national.

2. Review your notes and think about your interactions. Which ideas revealed by your international
peers about the topic were familiar to you? Which were new?

Every idea, on a macro level, was somewhat familiar, but on a personal/micro level, I noticed a great
deal of novelty. For example, the coronavirus was a global event, so everyone had to have been at least
somewhat familiar with it, but the personal interpretation of the outbreak by people of such a different
culture was, not just new, but completely contrasting.

3. Did your perspective on the topic change as a result of participating in the COIL collaboration?
Please use specific examples to illustrate your point(s).

My standpoint did not change, but got, in fact, strengthened. Taking the coronavirus outbreak as an
example, once again, I noticed how much worse an individualistic culture handled the situation
compared to a collective one. Folk from an obeying, collective culture immediately complied and
reacted to the measurements taken and, thus, pushed the virus to extinction within its borders, whereas
an individualistic culture kept placing the individual over the societal factor, as its name itself states,
and, thus, still has major issues with the outbreak.
4. Did the COIL collaboration illuminate anything new about your culture? About the culture of
your international peers?

Once again, due to the globalized level of the American culture and its major presence in our lives, the
main novelty was the experience and the people of the culture themselves. The aspects of the cultures,
as well as their interaction, were always a point of discussion in Montenegro, and thus most of those
points were already known to us.

5. Did you have to adjust your communication habits when building a connection with your
international peers? Why or why not? Think about whether/how your written, oral, body
language had to be adapted to communicate successfully.

Due to the nature of our studies, and our collective previous experience of interacting with people of a
different culture, I believe that none of us had to make adjustments to establish successful
communication. When talking in a different language, especially a language from a culture as globalized
as the American one, we also somewhat adapt the target culture, and as we have been using English
from a very early age, it was as if we merged with our peers instantly.

6. What aspect of this collaboration was challenging for you?

As the coronavirus made public gatherings unsafe, all classes have been moved online until it is
considered safe to attend class once again. Thus, a great number of assignments were appointed to us.
These assignments, combined with the coinciding dates of our final exams, made the online meetings of
COIL classes difficult to attend. Otherwise, it was not challenging, but an absolute pleasure.

7. Overall, what was the most interesting and useful learning moment for you in your collaborative
activities with international peers?

At one moment, the point of discussion was Yuval Noah Harari and his points on the impact of the
coronavirus on humankind. We were split into groups and given the assignment of sharing our opinions
on his stances. Sharing our points of view between each other was the most enlightening moment, as I
noticed that we share many opinions, at least in theory.
8. What is your major take-away from this collaboration that might help you in any aspect of your
education and life experience?

The knowledge and experience gathered from the collaboration with people of a different culture is
without a shadow of a doubt the most useful aspect taken from the project. I am a firm believer that
communication is the absolute key to knowledge flow, and by communicating as much as possible,
especially with a different culture, our conversational skills increase exponentially.

You might also like