Virtual Study Abroad
VIRTUAL STUDY ABROAD
During the three weeks in May students of the University of Gdańsk had a unique opportunity to take part in a virtual student exchange interacting with their peers from the Valdosta State University (Georgia, USA).
VSU is a partner of the UG and the cooperation has been evolving to reach new forms. While forced by COVID-19 which made it impossible for the American students to travel to Gdańsk this year, faculty members of both universities decided to facilitate exchange using online tools. The program developed by history professors: John Dunn (VSU) and Anna Mazurkiewicz (UG) lasted 3 weeks and included three components;
The first section consisted of meeting the American diplomats from Warsaw and from Washington who shared insights on their work in U.S. diplomacy with a special focus on Poland. On May 13, we had the honor of hosting Mike Kiselycznyk – Political-Military Unit Chief in Warsaw Poland with the vast experience of having served in U.S. diplomatic posts from Kabul to Abuja. A week later, we welcomed Larry Wright, Senior Poland Desk Officer and Unit Chief (European Office, Central Europe) at the U.S. State Department. Both of these meetings were most inspiring to both groups of students making them consider careers in diplomacy.
The second component were the lectures presented by the graduate students of the Faculty of History who presented the regional social, political and cultural flavors. Łukasz Szkwarek prepared material on the history of the Kaszubes, while Magdalena Bagińska took us on a personal tour of Gdańsk. The program was complemented by Olavi Arens, professor of history at Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University, who took the students for an online walking-tour of Savannah, Georgia.
Last, but not least, there were interactive meetings between various groups of students from both sides of the Atlantic who were tasked with developing a presentation on one of the life stories of their choice. Their work was supervised by Dr. Martin Blaszk who specializes in performative education. The students’ projects were developed over the course of 3 weeks and were presented in a GRAND FINALE on May 27th which was part of the Border Seminar (an international conference organized at the UG, directed by Dr. Grzegorz Welizarowicz). The computer screen became the theater stage.
This was the first ever Virtual Exchange of such scope and interactive character. Pandemic did not stop our cooperation but provided us with new opportunities. We made the best of it looking forward to the next year where we shall meet in person.
