Intercultural Exchange for Sustainable Futures: A GNL Course Connecting University Students in Germany and the United States

Year 2024, Volume: 13 Issue: 3, 184 - 198, 31.12.2024

Benjamin Ade-thurow Erik Byker

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to describe and report on a Globally Networked Learning (GNL) course among students in Germany and the United States. Specifically, we examine how GNL is an innovative method for international virtual exchange, which contributes to meaningful intercultural communication through more equitable access to international experiences for undergraduate students. The focus for this GNL course was the United Nations (2015) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a set of 17 international policy goals introduced by the United Nations in 2015 with the vision of achieving a harmonious and thriving world for everyone by 2030. The SDGs provided the international discourse platform for the development of global awareness and intercultural communication among university students. The study found that the GNL helped to facilitate international research collaboration on the SDGs and helped developed global competencies among the participants.

Keywords

GNL,, intercultural awareness, global competencies, Critical Cosmopolitan Theory

Ethical Statement

The study was approved by the University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). All the IRB ethics guidelines were followed in relation to the data collection, data analysis, and the reporting of the study’s data.

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