The Sharing Cultures Project
- Five Project Years (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011)
- Four Institutions (Columbia College Chicago, USA; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa; Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa; Volgograd Academy of Public Information, Volgograd, Russia)
- Asynchronous, Semester-long Discussion Board “Sharing”
- 10+ heritage languages/cultures in any given year
- First-year Writing (USA), Foundations/Bridge/Mentorship year programs (South Africa), Language Program (Russia)
- 663 Students (identified as “at-risk” in some way at participating institutions)
Project Goals
- Connect students through online discussions that ask them to move from a consideration of self and local culture to larger social and global issues;
- Leverage digital technology to provide international learning experiences for students who do not have the means to participate in traditional exchange programs;
- Create an online space in which students and teachers from vastly different backgrounds share diverse perspectives, experiences, and beliefs;
- Give students the opportunity to read, write, and respond to the ideas of others in a complex activity network, all of which supports their work in developmental writing and/or bridge and humanities courses download hamburg images.
