Comparative Healthcare Inequalities
Module Theme: This COIL module invites students in two or more cultural contexts to explore healthcare inequality in their area.
Module Theme: This COIL module invites students in two or more cultural contexts to explore gentrification in their area.
Module Abstract: In this project, students at Guttman worked with their peers from Palestine Ahliya University (PAU) to investigate gender-related inequalities in the United States and Palestine and build websites to showcase the research results. To facilitate the virtual exchange and collaboration, assignments and activities were arranged for students to get to know each other and to learn about the cultural and historical background of the other side.
Investigating Gender Inequalities in Morocco and NYC
Module Abstract: This 8-week final project brought college students in Morocco and New York City together to explore the issue of gender inequality, in relation to the UN Sustainable Development Goal #10 of “ Reduced Inequalities. ” In this module, students learned how gender inequality manifests in the US and Morocco and conducted a survey project on gender inequality in our local communities.
Livable Campuses, Healthy Communities
This project engaged students from AUC and CUNY to investigate the urban-health challenges facing university students when accessing spaces related to physical and mental health at AUC (Cairo) and Guttman CUNY (NYC). Using online platforms for virtual exchange, students built a comparative analysis of how spatial, social and economic inequalities in campuses are constructed similarly and/or differently in both contexts. The project addressed the United Nations’ SDG10 that emphasizes the importance of reducing inequalities within and among countries. The experiential learning project is twofold. First, it is a cross-cultural experience with group-work and teams created across the Atlantic between the global north (US) and the global south (Egypt). Secondly, students are challenged to explore the inherited social, economic and spatial registers facing university-campuses when dealing with the pandemic and turbulent uncertainties at each respective community.
Quality of Drinking Water in Jordan and New York City
Module Abstract: The joint virtual global learning activity brought together college students from Jordan and New York City to learn about UN SDG #6 and explore the issue of water pollution and drinking water quality in both regions. The activity involved undergraduate students from Guttman Community College and Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST). The students worked in binational collaborative learning groups, collected field data on drinking water quality, and presented their findings and policy recommendations at a virtual international student conference.
Module Abstract: In 2021, undergraduate researchers in Egypt and the U.S. designed an ethnographic study of small businesses in New York City and Cairo, two of the world’s economic and cultural capitals. These parallel studies explored how each cities’ small businesses navigated a global pandemic, movements for social justice, vast inequity, and the uneven distribution of government resources. The results were uneven, sometimes heartwarming, and other times unsettling. The experience of producing knowledge, however, proved transformative for the students involved.
Module Abstract: Connect to a class in Morocco, we explored workplace culture and inequality. Each student in the group visited and observed a workplace in the same industry (Sales, food services, social services, education, construction, transportation). Each student analyzed their notes and examined how your culture was present in the workplace and how inequality was present in the workplace.
Introduction to CUNY, Hostos and NYC
Module Theme: This pre-exchange COIL Slideshow introduces students in two or more cultural contexts to CUNY, Hostos, and NYC in preparation for the first major activity, the Ice Breaker Activity.
Transnational Mental Health Stigmas
Module Abstract: As part of GSACS fellowship, I collaborated with a professor from Jordan University of Science and Technology to develop lessons, assignments, and a final collaborative research project with her mental health nursing students and my online introduction to urban community health students. The research question that guided this work was What inequalities and stigmas exist in seeking mental health care in Jordan and in New York City? Students had the opportunity to learn about Jordan and many of the social and political issues that influence their access to mental health in comparison to New York City.
UN Water Sustainability Comparative Project
Module Abstract: This project brought college students in Jordan and New York City together to address United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #6: Clean Water and Sanitation, through an exploration and comparative analysis of the quality of drinking water and clean water sustainability in different neighborhoods/regions in Jordan and New York City. Students analyzed water samples for key metrics such as metals content, pH, and total dissolved solids, in order to determine the unique challenges faced in each country in their clean water sustainability efforts and to propose solutions to solve or mitigate these challenges.
