GNL-Enhanced Projects

Economics Virtual Journal Club 

Course Director: Dr. Karen Bernhardt-Warner 

In partnership with Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) (Germany) 

Course offered in Fall-Winter 2024/2025  

Course Description:  This GNL project has three objectives: 1. Introduce undergraduate students to the frontiers of economic inquiry and lower the barriers of entry into economic research. 2. Improve academic communication skills for undergraduate students. 3. Exchange ideas across a range of perspectives and facilitate transatlantic interaction and cooperation.    

GNL Components: In this “Virtual Journal Club”, students will learn to present and debate ideas in synchronous (video conferences) and asynchronous digital environments (different tools and plugins in Moodle) while maintaining personal authenticity and professional academic standards. The virtual journal club will take place during LMU’s winter semester, overlapping the second half of York University’s Fall term and the first half of York University’s Spring term. Instructors coordinate their teaching and assessment as well as the use of a joint Moodle site.

• During the virtual journal club (mid-Oct. to March), students complete weekly academic and general-audience readings on topics rotating across different subfields of microeconomics. Each week, students will exchange ideas and reflections on the readings through an online discussion forum on Moodle (asynchronous channel) and in a joint 90-minute video conference (synchronous channel). In synchronous and asynchronous, in written and verbal communication, students are encouraged to communicate with personal authenticity and according to professional standards, with the facilitation and feedback from the instructors.
• Final project: students will work in intercultural teams and draw on a range of online collaboration tools regarding the topics discussed during the virtual journal club
• End-of-project reflections: students’ sharing cultural discrepancies: whether they valued that experience, and what impact, if any, the exposure to the views and perspectives of others may have had on them.
  • This GNL Course has been conducted in the last four years, and this is an Award-Winning GNL Experience. Karen Bernhardt-Walther and Matthias Lang (LMU) have won the prestigious the European Economics Association (EEA) Award for Innovation in Teaching in 2024.

AP/PPAS 4070 6.0. Sociology of Law, Sections A & B   

Course Director: Professor James Simeon  

In partnership with Tec de Monterrey (Mexico)  

Course offered in Fall/Winter 2024-2025  

Course Description:  This course examines social institutions and the ideologies of law within the context of public policies through case studies and the case study method of analysis. The foundations of law and practice are examined within liberal democratic societies. Informed by classical and contemporary sociological and legal theorists and their perspectives, and the analysis of current pressing public policy issues and concern, the course will explore the critical role of law in liberal democratic societies.    

GNL Components: Built upon a lot of previous GNL experience, Professor James Simeon and TEC professors provided the students with an opportunity to engage in a unique set of learning activities allowing virtual cultural exchange: guest lectures and follow-up discussion and ice-breaker activities, team discussions on public policy issues/case studies between Canada and Mexico, and group reports.  

AP/JP 2010 6.00. Intermediate Written Communication in Japanese 

Course Director: Dr. Akiko Mitsui 

In partnership with Hitotsubashi University (Japan)  

Course offered in Fall/Winter 2024-2025  

Course Description: The goal of this GNL project is to share ideas on topics students are interested in, using written Japanese, to obtain new perspectives on them through communication, and to reflect on the issues from new perspectives. This course is repeated from the previous academic year 2023-2024.   

GNL Components:  York students wrote descriptions about themselves and their lives and then short opinion essays, and Hitotsubashi students read them and gave comments on their content (not language errors) in Japanese, via Google docs, considering York students’ proficiency level. A short video introducing York students was also posted on Padlet, with the participation of a couple of Hitotsubashi students.  

NURS 2546. Health of Families and Social Group Mansa Partnership  

Course Director: Dr. Faith Root 

In partnership with Mansa Memorial Hospital (Ghana) 

Course offered in Fall 2024 – Summer 2025 

Course Description: This course is a pre-course for a Clinical Practicum Study Abroad, led by faculties in Summer 2025 (where a group of York students will travel and join the Ghanaian hospital in a practicum setting). The pre-course was organized for the participants from Mansa Memorial Hospital who will be joining to learn and interact with York instructor and students and then will be supporting York students when they arrive in Ghana for the clinical experience during their faculty-led study abroad experience.    

GNL Components: Asynchronous materials (reading, slides, and lecture recordings) are provided in 2-week module increments, beginning September 6th, 2024. Virtual synchronous Zoom meetings will be held every 2 weeks, beginning September 19th, to review content and explore case studies. The last module is scheduled to end November 28th, with access to the course ending in December 2024. The practicum for York students, instructed by both York instructors and Ghanaian physicians and midwives who participated in this virtual experience, will take place in Ghana, Summer 2025. 

COIL-VE with Shandong Second Medical University 

Course Director: Hugo Chen  

In partnership with Shandong Second Medical University (China)   

Course offered in Fall/Winter 2024-2025  

Course Description: The proposed learning outcomes for the course include developing a deep understanding of cultural, educational, and healthcare differences between Canada and China, particularly in relation to university life and medical career pathways.    

GNL Components: Through practical projects and discussions, students will apply AI concepts to address real-world challenges, fostering a nuanced perspective on the intersection of AI, healthcare, and cultural exchange. The course explores the intersections of culture, healthcare systems, education, medical students' career development, tourism, and technology through a cross-cultural lens, with a focus on Canada and China. Students will participate in discussions and activities that highlight the influence of AI on daily life, education systems, and traditional practices in both countries. Through a series of interactive sessions, students will develop a deeper understanding of the cultural differences and similarities between these two nations, with a special focus on how AI is shaping their future.  

AP/FR 4123. Information and Communication Technologies for Language Learning: The case of French  

Course Director: Associate Professor Dominique Scheffel-Dunand  

In partnership with Aix-Marseille Université (France)   

Course offered in Fall 2024 (This is the third iteration of the GNL project, explored in both courses FR 4123 and FR 4122 with the same partner at Aix-Marseille for the past two years: Fall 2022 and Fall 2023. The third iteration aims to improve the GNL steps and activities based on student feedback).  

Course Description:  This course focuses on teaching and learning French as an additional language in Ontario and Canada. It examines the impact of digital, information, and communication technologies on new pedagogies in language education. Students will develop competencies and skills in research and comparative analysis on topics such as: 1. relevant theoretical frameworks, research methodologies, and inspiring practices regarding the role and use of ICT and digital technologies in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) with a focus on FSL. 2. Ethnographical work: observation and description of various interactions involving second language learners and instructors in classroom settings or online virtual classrooms in France and Canada. 3. Critical comparative analysis of research outputs: reviewing scientific papers, reports, textbooks, multimodal pedagogical resources, and knowledge products in the field of second language teaching and learning.    

GNL Components: In this course, students from both countries collaborate in sub-groups on four specific activities. All assignments will be presented in the course language: French for York students and English for students at INSPÉ Aix-Marseille. Collaboration lasts over 8-12 weeks, with activities done both synchronously on Tuesdays for 3 hours for presentations and discussions with instructors, and asynchronously for group work. Teamwork will start earlier in the term, offering four activities aligned with GNL pedagogy:

• Ice Breaker: After writing their own language autobiography, students interview one another and write a reflection piece on the language autobiographies of their sub-group partners.
• Comparative Analysis: Using video recordings, infographics, podcasts, etc., students from both institutions work in sub-groups to create a digital output describing and illustrating ministerial and curriculum recommendations for multicultural and plurilingual classrooms in both educational systems. This activity aims to develop awareness of plurilingualism and multiculturalism concepts in language teaching/learning settings and compare research frameworks and best practices for teaching and learning in such classrooms in Ontario and Académie Aix Marseille.
• Creative Outputs: In sub-groups, students from both institutions will co-develop pedagogical units or lesson plans for a multicultural and plurilingual classroom in Ontario and France, targeting either the elementary or secondary level.
• Reflective Output: Individually, students from both institutions write a reflective piece on the co-development of their lesson plans with partners from other countries.

EDST 2450. Multilingualism and Multiculturalism in Educational Contexts   

Course Director: Dr. Andrea Valente  

In partnership with TEC (Mexico)   

Course offered in Fall 2024 

Course Description: This course offers a shared discovery of cultural diversity and linguistic pluralism in life, learning and work, inviting examination of who we are in the cultural remix, and questioning identity, history and social values. We examine existing language-in-education policy and practice, theories and pedagogies of multiple language learning and maintenance, and invite critical consideration of how we can creatively redesign education for successful, co-operative learning outcomes. Moreover, this course offers an experiential component, in which students will create and share multilingual teaching and learning resources collectively within various educational contexts.    

GNL Components: This GNL component aims to help students explain culture and language in the context of multilingual pedagogy, describe cultural pluralism, multilingualism, and theories on superdiversity and plurilingualism, and reflect on their own experience as components of the cultural remix of the contemporary classroom.

• Icebreaker: Students make a video introducing themselves (1-3 minutes) and post it on Padlet and then respond to at least 2 of their international peers on PADLET platform.
• Teamwork part 1: After the assigned readings from each course (York University students: about Multilingualism and Multiculturalism / Tec students: about the basic theory regarding Myths), students get together with their team to share what they have learned. Each member of the team posts a video on PADLET and comments on at least 2 international peers from their group or also from other groups.
• Collaborative activity: Provide feedback on peer’s reflection and provide 2-pages reflection on what students have learned from peer’s integration of SOGI VS in their community
  • Teamwork part 2: Each group (with participants from Tec and York will search and select multilinguistic and/or multicultural available/present in their location and take photos of those selected markers or use internet photos/images that represent those geographical markers. The group is then required to write a brief bilingual description in English and Spanish (or in an additional language common to the group) in around 100 words, followed by the group’s collective response which reflects the course material and readings.
• Final Reflection: students go to the assigned Padlet board and create a new video sharing their thoughts about their project experience

ITEC4310. Applied Artificial Intelligence  

Course Director: Associate Professor Stephen Chen  

In partnership with National Taiwan University (Taiwan)   

Course offered in Fall 2024 

Course Description: This course provides an introduction to the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). After years of “lab work”, many meaningful real-world applications are now ready. Although there is still much scientific work to be done, this course will focus on the opportunity to apply existing AI products to real-world problems. A brief overview of the science of AI will help explain its function and limitations. The key learning component for ITEC4310 students is to think about the future impact of AI on society. NTNU students actually have four modules: technology, environment, world, and life. This will help ITEC students think about the impacts of AI on a broader level.    

GNL Components:  Key GNL learning outcomes: synthesize course materials into a future model of our world, understand the background, bias, and perspective that informs our models, and understand different perspectives that other people may have.

• Preliminary phase: Answer a series of questions to prepare a "preliminary report"
• Collaborative phase: Share and discuss preliminary reports with partner team
• Presentation phase: Class presentation of "final report" which answers the series of questions after idea exchange with the partner team

NURS 4525. Community Health Nursing  

Course Director: Dr. Roya Haghiri-Vijeh  

In partnership with Hongkong Baptist University (Hongkong)  

Course offered in Fall 2024 

Course Description: 1. Integrates principles of primary health care and community development in practice with a community aggregate 2. Applies effective communication strategies when working with clients, key informants, stakeholders, health professionals and other interprofessional/intersectoral team members. 4. Engages collaboratively with partners and the community in order to plan, implement and evaluate health promotion strategies that improve the health of the placement’s aggregate.    

GNL Components: This GNL experience uses the reflection on safe and affirming nursing care for 2SLGBTQI+ communities. Students need to complete SOGI Virtual simulation games online asynchronously: https://soginursing.ca/ as a required element of completing this GNL experience.

• Ice breaker: Post an introduction respond to 2 peers from the counter institutions on Padlet (questions posed by the professors)
• Shared activities: SOGI Nursing certificate. Students have to complete the SOGI toolkit and case studies and get the SOGI Nursing certificate. Then students complete a 3-pages reflection (with guided questions) on this SOGI Toolkit and email the assigned peer from partner institution.
• Collaborative activity: Provide feedback on peer’s reflection and provide 2-pages reflection on what students have learned from peer’s integration of SOGI VS in their community
• Feedback: surveys on what students have learned about this GNL experience

La compétence interculturelle en action  

Course Director: Associate Professor Muriel Peguret 

In partnership with Université de Douala (Cameroon)   

Course offered in Fall 2024 

Course Description: This GNL project was offered as a series of workshops outside of a university credited course between Ontario and Cameroon students, who were recruited online through different communities (language teachers, and future teachers in Ontario and Cameroon). This course was a 6-series workshop outside of a university-credited course.    

GNL Components: The first half was dedicated to presentations from participants from Ontario and Cameroon to explain their take on the theme. The second half was meant to be more collaborative work between the students. 

GSWS/DANC4528 3.0. Feminism, Dance and The Body: Performance, Movement and Transformation  

Course Director: Dr. Lisa Sandlos 

In partnership with Mukogawa Women's University (Japan)  

Course offered in Summer 2024  

Course Description: This interdisciplinary course focuses on critical perspectives on the body and embodiment from feminist scholarship and dance studies. Combining theoretical analysis with experiential learning of dance improvisations and movement vocabularies, the course gives students the opportunity to utilize both intellectual and embodied inquiry to reflect on multiple and overlapping meanings of physical expression, identity, and representation.  Students in both courses (Mukogawa and York) had the opportunities to learn, experience and contemplate major concepts, issues, and debates about dance, movement, the body and embodiment.    

GNL Components: Students participating in the GNL project worked in groups of 2 (i.e., 1 student from Mukogawa and 1 from York) or groups of 4 (i.e., 2 from Mukogawa working together and 2 from York) synchronously, asynchronously, or both). Students exchanged short videotaped expressive dance/movement-based studies, focusing on aspects of their identities. Using prompts and translation aids, the students completed written or oral reflections to connect their experiential learning of creating a movement/dance video, their observations of their partner’s video, and concepts of embodiment, movement expression, performance and representation across Japanese and Canadian cultural contexts. Both courses used a mixture of experiential movement/dance and theoretical learning, but as a studio course, Mukogawa emphasized dancing and moving and as a seminar, York elaborated on diverse feminist perspectives on the body. These commonalities and differences allow students in both groups to compare and contrast not only their responses to learning core course concepts but also compare experiential vs conceptual learning, as well as cultural similarities and differences in how students tend to learn in general in Japan and Canada.  

Read more about this GNL course here

Piloted Linguistic and Cultural Exchange  

Course Director: Associate Professor Usha A. Viswanathan 

In partnership with Université de Douala (Cameroon)   

Course offered in Winter 2024 

Course Description: This GNL project is a linguistic and cultural exchange using the Zoom platform between Glendon students and students at the University of Douala in Cameroon. Students discussed a variety of topics such as linguistic identity and language learning (language(s) spoken at home, in the workplace, dominant languages, official languages, learning French and English in a classroom setting, challenges associated with language learning etc.), comparison of official bilingualism in Canada and Cameroon, comparison of post-secondary education in Canada and Cameroon. Students were free to communicate in both French and English. For Glendon students, English was their dominant language, however, they were encouraged to communicate as much as comfortably possible in French, and for the students in Cameroon, French is their dominant language and they were encouraged to practice their English language.    

GNL Components: Each session began with a whole group discussion, including musical performances by participants (singing of the Canadian and Cameroonian national anthems, singing of traditional Franco-Ontarian songs, popular songs in Cameroon). Then students were placed in break-out rooms with pre-prepared questions to discuss but they were also encouraged to prepare, ask, and discuss their own questions. In the end, students returned to the main room in Zoom and debriefed about what was shared in the break-out rooms.  

Enquête sur Les Systèmes éducatifs Francophones (FRAN 3100, now FRAN 4270) 

Course Director: Associate Professor Muriel Peguret 

In partnership with Université D'Orleans (France)  

Course offered in Winter 2024 

Course Description: The goal of this course is to experience cultural differences in education in various countries or regions of the Francophonie. Students in the course at Glendon and the University of Orléans (France) are engaged together in an active and interactive investigation to observe, dialogue, compare, collaboratively create and analyze differences in educational approaches. The student will develop their communication skills in French, written and oral, intercultural skills (the ability to interact with different cultures, empathy, adaptability), knowledge of educational policies, and indirectly his or her understanding of the internationalization of education.    

GNL Components: Comparisons based on different themes (equity, FSL teaching, school structures, etc.). The final task group work was planning an FSL lesson together with written synthesis of ideas and translation work personal written reflection. 

Designing for Change 

Course Director: Shital Desai 

In partnership with Queensland University of Technology, Australia; Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt, Germany; Linköpings universitet, Sweden 

Course Description: In this course, students will learn how designers can improve the world, how to apply human-centered design to solve complex global challenges, and what 21st century skills are required to make a difference in the world. The course will build towards expanding knowledge of human-centered design and provide practical skills to make a difference in the world. We’ll also explore why we evolved from user-centered design to people-centered design.   

GNL Components: The approach to people-centered studies integrates ethnographic research with systems thinking methods. This involves mapping the system and pinpointing intervention points for effective engagement. The experiential learning activities encompass various elements, such as ideation sessions utilizing tools like Lego Serious Play, immersive field trips to comprehend the context of our design, and collaboration with community partners. Reflection plays a crucial role, achieved through presentations, journal entries, and interactive activities like the passing the parcel game. Furthermore, the prototyping activities range from sketching and utilizing everyday objects to employing fabrication tools for building and making, fostering a hands-on and creative learning environment.  

Teaching and Learning Core French 

Course Director: Jafar Alberuni Hussain 

In partnership with Universidad del Desarrollo, Chile 

Course Description: This course addresses teaching and learning French as an additional language in Core French contexts in Ontario and Canada. Current research in FSL education is examined, and methods and techniques to develop learners’ ability to interact in French are emphasized. This course is only available to students in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree program.   

GNL Components: Students from both countries work collaboratively in a group on a specific project, in a language or languages of their choosing. The final product is presented in the language of the course (in this context, it will be French). Several ideas include: students can interview one another and write a reflection piece; using video recording software, create a digital brochure to incite others to come and visit their country; exchange recipe ideas, make the dish, document the process, virtually share the dish with their partner, and produce a video-recorded reflection on this experience. 

Collaborative Online International Learning Virtual Exchange (COIL-VE) 

Course Director: Hugo Chen 

In partnership with Northeastern University, China 

Course Description: This is a staff lead initiative - led by Hugo Chen, Director of International Collaborations and Partnerships, and supported by GLYS members. Due to the pandemic, universities worldwide have increased their activity around VE. The Science COIL-VE allows science students to engage in a cross-cultural learning experience through online discussions, virtual collaborations and shared study life during the pandemic & post-pandemic. Students will explore different perspectives and approaches to various topics with peers from other countries and cultures. About GLYS Global Leaders of York Science (GLYS) aims to provide undergraduate students with professional development opportunities to enhance their employability skills and help them develop a global mindset. GLYS is a volunteer team that works closely with the Office of International Collaborations and Partnerships (OICP), supporting international initiatives at York Science.   

GNL Components: The Science COIL-VE allows science students to engage in a cross-cultural learning experience through online discussions, virtual collaborations and shared study life during the pandemic & post-pandemic. Students will explore different perspectives and approaches to various topics with peers from other countries and cultures.  

Hispanic Geopoetics 

Course Director: Alejandro Zamora 

In partnership with Universidad del Magdalena, Colombia 

Course Description: This project-based course centres on the study of the perception, representation and mapping of space in and through literature. Adopting a case-study approach, it focuses on a specific work and author, and furthers its investigation through a fieldtrip to a place relevant to the examined literature. The selected literary work is therefore studied both as a primary source to reflect about place, space, and other categories, and as a method of spatial, in-situ exploration.   

GNL Components: This course explores the local geographies and oral heritage in the Colombian Caribbean that populated the imagination and generated the particular language of Gabriel García Márquez. Students further explore this aspect during a fieldtrip to the region. Being a Hyflex course, it is attended as well by 7 students from the Universidad del Magdalena (in the Colombian Caribbean), who also met with our students and participated in all the activities of their fieldtrip.  

Learn more about Alejandro’s project: https://yorku.zoom.us/rec/share/VC9C6-BdWxMShUp29cHAf2z6PnhLlb2T-BNx0WXxeV867AcHkTtrcpTllNYyxgET.OYUs7Lkd6KGett9s?startTime=1682535787000 

Graduate Studies Preparation Program (GSPP) 

Course Director: Francesca Boschetti 

In partnership with Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, Dominican Republic 

Course Description: The Graduate Studies Preparation Program (GSPP) is a language intensive preparation program offered by York University’s English Language Institute at the School of Continuing Studies. It provides students interested in pursuing graduate studies in North-America with academic English language training and graduate application coaching. GSPP students are also coached on how to thrive in graduate school, with a concentration on skills development (oral and written academic communication skills, research skills, critical thinking skills, professionalism).   

GNL Components: This GNL project encompasses three key components: Firstly, asynchronous ice-breakers facilitate student introductions in the partner institution, fostering a sense of connection. Secondly, students engage in teamwork, either in pairs or mini-groups, collaborating on a shared objective, such as creating a presentation. Lastly, the project concludes with a final synchronous session, providing an opportunity for real-time interaction and reflection. These components collectively aim to enhance intercultural understanding and collaboration among participating students. 

AP/PPAS 4112 3.0 and GS/PPAL 6040 3.0
Course Director: James C. Simeon

In partnership with Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico

Course Description: Using multi-disciplinary analytical perspectives, the current state of the international refugee protection regime will be examined to reveal the underlying forces and dynamics at the root of the critical problems and the probable solutions facing those seeking international protection.

GNL-Components: Students will be able to have a better appreciation and understanding of the refugee and migration issues and concerns internationally as well as, specifically, in three countries: Canada; Mexico; that is, from North America and, South America. Students will be able to work with students from different countries on various critical issues facing refugees and other forced migrants and in the process further develop and hone their problem-solving skills.

Collaborative Student Outputs:

Student Forum via Padlet

Diversity in a Globalized World: Classroom Website

Check out how it went!

Enquête sur les systèmes éducatifs francophones 

Course Director: Muriel Peguret 

In partnership with Universite D'Orleans, France 

Course Description: L’objectif est de faire l’expérience des différences culturelles dans le monde de l’éducation de divers pays ou diverses régions de la francophonie sans quitter Toronto. Cette année le DEF a un partenariat avec la France (Université d’Orléans). Les étudiant.e.s du cours au DEF et à l’Université d’Orléans sont lancé.e.s ensemble dans une enquête active et interactive pour observer, dialoguer, comparer, créer collaborativement et analyser les différences d’approches éducatives. L’étudiant va développer ses compétences de communication en français à l’écrit et à l’oral, ses compétences interculturelles (l’aptitude à interagir avec différentes cultures, l’empathie, la capacité d’adaptation), ses connaissances des politiques éducatives et indirectement sa compréhension de l’internationalisation de l’éducation. Tout ceci se fera dans un cadre favorisant la détente, l’interaction, le partage, la discussion et la collaboration. Quelques exemples de thèmes abordés seront : les chocs culturels, les attentes pédagogiques, la façon de communiquer, les notions de diversité, équité et inclusion, les standards éthiques.   

GNL Components: Comparisons based on different themes (equity, FSL teaching, school structures, etc.) Final Task group work : planning an FSL lesson together written synthesis of ideas and translation work personal written reflection. 

THEA 5111 3.0 & THEA 3000 

Course Director: Ian Garrett

In partnership with Griffith University, and Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Course Description: In this course, students will build their literacy in contemporary sustainable thinking, environmental/climate issues, emerging models of creation, pedagogy, and community stakeholder engagement through a combination of research, modelling and field work as strategic change agents in professional settings. This will be applied to developing experimental stage designs responding to the 50 short plays in the Climate Change Theatre  Action in preparation for an exhibition at World Stage Design in Calgary, August 6 - 16, 2022. The course will primarily meet in the evenings on Mondays after the Fall Reading week in the York Term , and then pick-up after the Winter Break to finish before the Winter Reading week, after which students may continue to prepare their work for exhibition leading up to World Stage Design in Calgary.  

 Traveling to Calgary is not a requirement of the course. 

GNL Components: Students will create collaborative scenography projects with their peers in Griffith University and Queensland University of Technology, and then organize the exhibition and performance of performance projects at an international festival.

GL/SP 3600 3.00 (Winter 2021)
Course Director: Jerzy Kowal

In partnership with Universidad Federal de Pernambuco, Brasil.

Course Description: This course will examine the linguistic structures of the Spanish language: its sound system (phonetics and phonology), its word formation morphology), sentence structure (syntax) and varieties of Spanish (historical, social and regional).

GNL Components: The courses will consist or 12 weeks of interactive lectures, where students will participate in a series of experiential learning activities to learn about Spanish linguistics through experience, and experiential learning tasks. Furthermore, all assignments and project will have a purpose of give students real opportunities to "live" Spanish linguistics and, by the end of the course, acquire a real knowledge what is today's Spanish language and of how it works.

AP/PPAS 4112 3.0 and GS/PPAL 6040 3.0
Course Director: James C. Simeon

In partnership with Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico

Course Description: Using multi-disciplinary analytical perspectives, the current state of the international refugee protection regime will be examined to reveal the underlying forces and dynamics at the root of the critical problems and the probable solutions facing those seeking international protection.

GNL-Components: Students will be able to have a better appreciation and understanding of the refugee and migration issues and concerns internationally as well as, specifically, in three countries: Canada; Mexico; that is, from North America and, South America. Students will be able to work with students from different countries on various critical issues facing refugees and other forced migrants and in the process further develop and hone their problem-solving skills.

Collaborative Student Outputs:

Student Forum via Padlet

Diversity in a Globalized World: Classroom Website

Check out how it went!

HH/IHST 4300 3.00 (Winter 2021)
Course Director: Dr. Mathieu Poirier

In partnership with Universidad Técnica Nacional, Costa Rica.

Course Description: Designed to bridge theory and practice in a variety of health settings, the Practicum is a 250-hour planned, supervised and evaluated research and practice based experience in which students are mentored and supported by qualified supervisors and faculty. The course also includes seminars and reflective and applied assignments. Prerequisites: All 3000 & 4000 courses in the program except for HH/IHST 4400 3.00. Open to: Global Health majors.

GNL Components: The Grounded Project brings awareness to issues concerning environmental sustainability, biodiversity conservation, health, and human well-being in Costa Rica through the creation of a series of documentary films spotlighting rural community lives. Through ethnographic research and grounded theory approach, field teams will record interviews with stakeholder community members, uploading footage to a virtual platform where York students and Costa Rican partners will collaboratively explore themes and issues raised as the foundation for film creation.

GSPP (Graduate Studies Preparation Program)
Course Director: Francesca Boschetti

Course Description: The Graduate Studies Preparation Program (GSPP) is a language intensive preparation program offered by York University’s English Language Institute at the School of Continuing Studies. It provides students interested in pursuing graduate studies in North-America with academic English language training and graduate application coaching. GSPP students are also coached on how to thrive in graduate school, with a concentration on skills development (oral and written academic communication skills, research skills, critical thinking skills, professionalism).

Virtual Journal Club
Course Director: Dr. Claudia Chaufan

Course Description: The goal of this Virtual Journal Club is to expose participants to a broader view of the relationship between health equity and social justice in Cuba, thus expanding their perspectives on comparative health policy as a field of intellectual inquiry and policy practice. This will include engaging students with perspectives that are rarely discussed in the mainstream, as they engage with cutting-edge research on the subject matter, discussion and debate among participants, and opportunities to interact with researchers themselves.

GNL Components: Students in the Virtual Journal Club will gain international global knowledge, skills, and attitudes by virtue of the very nature of the activity, that necessitates their engagement with knowledge about the complexity of a country with a very distinct cultural, social, and political tradition, as they interact within the Club with students from very different cultures. These activities are expected to impact their attitudes towards other cultures that very often are stereotyped in mainstream sources. I am very confident about the likelihood of success because I have taught at the university level in four different countries and in classes with students from widely different backgrounds, not only in Canada but also in the Republic of China.

GS/GFWS 6906 3.0
Doctoral Program of Gender, Feminist and Women’s Studies at York University

The Social Construction of Girls and Girlhood: Critical Feminist Perspectives
Course Director: Dr. Cheryl van Daalen-Smith

with Dr. Sharmila Parmanand, Department of Women and Development Studies, College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the Philippines, Diliman campus

Course Description: Drawing upon multiple theoretical perspectives from contemporary girlhood studies, students will explore the cultural and social construction of “the girl”, girls and girlhood. Critical feminist perspectives and analyses combined with “girls’” own experiences, enable students to uncover the ways in which girlhood, and by default enforced yet devalued femininity, is both socially constructed and regulated through time, place and space. The course strives to facilitate the enjoyment of deep reading and scholarly debate on a variety of topics relating to girls and girlhood where the role of oppression will be explored through a critical, feminist and intersectional lens. Through the physical and emotional manifestations of girlhood as experienced and told by “girls” themselves, students develop an awareness of the connections between the personal and social relations of power as they relate to lived experience, identity construction, subjectification and resistance. Readings, facilitated discussions both online and in class, together with learning evidences enable students to challenge and interrogate how gender, race, class, ability, colonization, and the regulation of girls’ bodies, minds and desires collude to enforce the societal enforcement of normalcy, criminality, sanity, etc. Through deep reflection and critical discourse analysis, what we think we “know” about girls and girlhood as an identity category is interrogated, critiqued and deconstructed.

GNL Components:The GNL components included guest lectures provided by both professors to their respective peer’s class, and a shared field trip assignment involving students in pairs, virtually visiting with a girl-serving organization in Canada or the Philippines in order to understand the pressing issues facing girls and the ways girl-serving professionals are constructing support and intervention. A closing combined class will enable students to share the insights gained in their respective field trips, and to engage in discussion regarding similarities and differences in the issues facing girls and the ways that support is provided.

Course Director: Joel Ong

In partnership with LASALLE Media Lab, Singapore.

Course Description: This course examines the formation of communities and new theories of mobilization in the digital era. Students will examine the recent history of digital media as a tool in the connection of communities globally, focusing on cultural data expression and narrative story telling through data practices.

GNL Components: Students will work with Lasalle Media Lab to think about how to collect, consider and critically evaluate data to develop multi-cultural digital media content. Then over the semester, students will work in teams to co-create digital media expressions and display their projects in a public showcase.

HH/NURS 4546
Course Director: Sandra Skerratt

In partnership with Oxford Brookes University (UK) NUTR6003 Global Nutrition, Public Health and Policy

Course Description: This course analyzes the influence of upstream political, social and economic forces on health status and health care, including health disparities, inequities and environmental degradation. Focusing on the nursing role, present and future scenarios threatening individual, population and planetary health will be examined to critically and reflectively consider social responsibilities and actions.

GNL Components: Students from undergraduate nursing and nutrition programs in different geographical locations will engage in dialogue to compare interdisciplinary perspectives on nutritional issues specific to global populations.

Fall 2021
Course Director: Dr. Carolyn Podruchny

Program Description
The program provides opportunities for dialogue and collaboration between Indigenous students at York University and their Indigenous student peers located in Australia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and the Philippines. The goal is to facilitate connections among Indigenous students around the world and share knowledge and experiences.

AP/PPAS 4111 & GS/PPAL 6030 3.0
Course Director: James C. Simeon

In partnership with Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, The Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador, Northwestern University, Evenston, and Illinois, USA,

Course Description: Using multi-disciplinary analytical perspectives, the current state of the international refugee protection regime will be examined to reveal the underlying forces and dynamics at the root of the critical problems and the probable solutions facing those seeking international protection.

GNL-Components: Students will be able to have a better appreciation and understanding of the refugee and migration issues and concerns internationally as well as, specifically, in three countries: Canada; Mexico; and, Ecuador; that is, from North America and, South America. Students will be able to work with students from three different countries on various critical issues facing refugees and other forced migrants and in the process further develop and hone their problem-solving skills.

Collaborative Student Outputs:

Student Forum via Padlet

Diversity in a Globalized World: Classroom Website

Check out how it went!

IHST 2200 (Fall/Winter 2021-22)
Course Director: Mathieu Poirier

In partnership with Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Germany.

Course Description: Analyzes the process through which global health policy is developed. As national and global initiatives can intertwine, the course begins by exploring and categorizing the manner in which nation governments are structured, and the factors that influence the process of policy decision-making at the national and global levels. Explores case studies that demonstrate global health policy development. Prerequisite: HH/IHST 1010 3.00

GNL Components: Each of the three course directors (one at York and two at Fulda) will create asynchronous guest lectures accessible to co-learners in both universities focusing on a global health policy topic that draws on their expertise and research area. Group discussion activities will be assigned for every co-learning week to foster intercultural dialogue identifying different assumptions, values, and strategies underlying Canadian and German approaches to global health policy. Finally, an international collaborative group project will allow students from both universities to work together to produce an tangible product focused on a specific aspect of global health policy response to COVID-19, drawing on both their lived experiences in Germany and Canada and the shared lecture content.

yFile: York University's News | Published April 7, 2021                                    Global Health students meet and collaborate with European peers through GNL

Fall/Winter 2021-22
Course Director: Karen Bernhardt-Warner

In partnership with Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)

In this course, 10 strong-performing students from the LMU and from York University, respectively to join us for a virtual journal club. The “Virtual Journal Club” will introduce undergraduate students to the frontiers of economic inquiry and lower the barriers of entry into economic research. Students will learn to present and debate ideas in synchronous (video conferences) and asynchronous digital environments (different tools and plugins in Moodle) while maintaining personal authenticity and professional academic standards.

Read more about the Economics Virtual Journal Club

NATS/SOSC 1605 6.0 (Fall/Winter 2021-22)
Course Director: Charles-Antoine Rouyer

In partnership with Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador and Université Catholique de Lille, France.

Course Description: This course connects the three areas of communication, health and environment by exploring the interrelationships between human health and the health of natural and socio-economic environments. It also addresses the influence of mass communication in relation to public policy pertaining to human and ecosystem health. Throughout the course, the sustainability concept is used as a guiding principle.

GNL Components
Fall Term: Students will participate in Hemispheric Student Dialogues on SDGs hosted by the Hemispheric University Consortium and USFQ to explore the connection between natural sciences and social sciences when dealing with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Student Outputs: Showcase of Student Deliverables on SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Winter Term: Canadian students will then work with French students during the early Winter 2021 term, to illustrate visually some of the key concepts studied. The deliverable will be a visual production, which could be part of a one day "Sustainability Festival” in Lille in late March.

Fall/Winter 2021-22
Course Director: Marlon Cabrera Valencia

In partnership with Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas, Colombia.

Course Description: The teaching and learning of English as an additional language has historically favored the (monolingual speaker-without interference from any other language) native speaker as the idealized model of language competency (AKA native speakerism).

GNL Components: In this course, York teacher candidates will have the opportunity to learn from/with Colombian teacher candidates and Ph.D. students working with a critical applied linguistics orientation to decolonize English language practices such as native-speakerism. There will also be a new practicum site where Canadian English-speaking student-teachers can learn from Colombian non-native speaker English teachers for their practicum.

Course Director: Dr. Franz Newland
In partnership with Universidad Federale de Pernambuco, Brazil

Course Description: In this unique 6-week, student-run pilot program, engineering students from all year levels will be undertaking a space mission design challenge to send up a small satellite that can gather and distribute information from ground-based sensors in bodies of water near remote communities.

GNL Components: Students in this course will be consulting with peers in the ‘Digital Technologies in Health’ course to dialogue and understand the impact of water qualities both in Canada and the Amazon.

Read about how the GNL Project went on the Project Website.

Course Director: Dr. Ian Garrett
In partnership with Griffith University, and Queensland University of Technology, Australia

Course Description: In this course, students will participate in a series of collaborative workshops on EcoScenography based on the Climate Change Theatre Action plays in an international remote studio in preparation for exhibition and presentation at the World Stage Design Festival in Calgary in August 2022

GNL Components: Students will create collaborative scenography projects with international partners, negotiate and translate designs ideas and projects for exhibition and presentation at an international festival, organize the exhibition and performance of performance projects at an international festival.

CCY 3698
Course Director: Dr. Cheryl L van Daalen-Smith of the Children, Childhood and Youth Studies Program
In partnership with Dr. Karla Diaz of the Universidad San Francisco de Quito.

Course Description: Students will explore multiple influences on contemporary Canadian and Ecuadorian children's health through a four-layered lens of Children’s Rights, Social Determinants of Health, Health in All Policies and the Sustainable Development Goals.

The course ethos is the respect of children and youth as human beings, with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child viewed as the most important social determinant of health for Canadian children and youth.

GNL Components: York University students will be grouped with peers from USFQ’s ‘Service Learning’ course in Ecuador to compare perspectives and contexts on a chosen Sustainable Development Goal, in relation to Children’s Health. Students will then create INFOgraphics to display their findings, followed by a reflection on the differences and similarities regarding the SDGs and Children’s Health in their respective countries.

Read more about this GNL experience

Fall/Winter 2021-22
Course Director: Karen Bernhardt-Warner

In partnership with Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU)

In this course, 10 strong-performing students from the LMU and from York University, respectively to join us for a virtual journal club. The “Virtual Journal Club” will introduce undergraduate students to the frontiers of economic inquiry and lower the barriers of entry into economic research. Students will learn to present and debate ideas in synchronous (video conferences) and asynchronous digital environments (different tools and plugins in Moodle) while maintaining personal authenticity and professional academic standards.

Read more about the Economics Virtual Journal Club

AP/PPAS 4111 & GS/PPAL 6030 3.0
Course Director: James C. Simeon

In partnership with Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico, and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.

Course Description: Using multi-disciplinary analytical perspectives, the current state of the international refugee protection regime will be examined to reveal the underlying forces and dynamics at the root of the critical problems and the probable solutions facing those seeking international protection.

GNL-Components: Students will be able to have a better appreciation and understanding of the refugee and migration issues and concerns internationally as well as, specifically, in three countries: Canada; Mexico; and, Ecuador; that is, from North America and, South America. Students will be able to work with students from three different countries on various critical issues facing refugees and other forced migrants and in the process further develop and hone their problem-solving skills.

Collaborative Student Outputs:

Student Forum via Padlet

Diversity in a Globalized World: Classroom Website

Check out how it went!

AP/PPAS 4112 & GS/PPAL 6040 3.0 (Winter 2021)
Course Director: James C. Simeon

In partnership with Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico and the Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.

Course Description: Analyzes and examines specific international asylum and refugee issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. Students will conduct independent research on international asylum and refugee issues and will have an Experiential Education opportunity with an organization working with refugees. Prerequisite: AP/PPAS 4111 3.00.

GNL-Components: The refugee and migration issues and concerns vary dramatically across and within these three countries. For instance, the Canadian refugee status determination (RSD) system is different from either the Mexican or the Ecuadorian systems. Students will be able to compare and contrast how the RSD systems are structured and function in these three countries and how refugee law and practice works on a transnational basis. And, in the process, be able to analyze and evaluate the respective RSD systems with respect to how fairly, effectively, and efficiently they handle refugees' applications for refugee protection.

IHST 2200 (Fall/Winter 2020-21)
Course Director: Mathieu Poirier

In partnership with Fulda University of Applied Sciences, Germany and Babeș-Bolyai University in Romania.

Course Description: Analyzes the process through which global health policy is developed. As national and global initiatives can intertwine, the course begins by exploring and categorizing the manner in which nation governments are structured, and the factors that influence the process of policy decision-making at the national and global levels. Explores case studies that demonstrate global health policy development. Prerequisite: HH/IHST 1010 3.00

GNL Components: Each of the three course directors (one at York and two at Fulda) will create asynchronous guest lectures accessible to co-learners in both universities focusing on a global health policy topic that draws on their expertise and research area. Group discussion activities will be assigned for every co-learning week to foster intercultural dialogue identifying different assumptions, values, and strategies underlying Canadian and German approaches to global health policy. Finally, an international collaborative group project will allow students from both universities to work together to produce an tangible product focused on a specific aspect of global health policy response to COVID-19, drawing on both their lived experiences in Germany and Canada and the shared lecture content.

yFile: York University's News | Published April 7, 2021                                    Global Health students meet and collaborate with European peers through GNL

Course Director: Ian Martin

In partnership with Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ecuador.

Course Description: In this course, students will gain an understanding of two key elements in the construction of Indigenous (Quijos) identity in the Ecuadorean Amazon: visual communication and language. They will also gain linguistic fieldwork experience and develop their digital storytelling skills (scripting/shooting/editing) to gain an appreciation of the role of video/film communication in the construction of Quijos identity.

GNL Components: Students will spend one week preparing online with participation from Ecuadorean partner university faculty. They will then travel to Ecuador to complete the field work: one week preparation with members of the Quijos nation and preparing scripts for video; one week in the field, on Quijos territory filming; one week back in Quito editing and finalizing the project. Glendon students will document their participation by video and text.

Sample Lecture: Challenges and Strategies in Quijos Linguistic and Cultural Revitalization in the Ecuadorian Amazon 

by Etsa Sharupi Tapuy et Cheryl Martens

Delivered as part of the Centre for Research on Language and Culture Contact (CRLCC)'s Brown Bag Lunch Talks on Jan 13, 2021 

NATS/SOSC 1605 6.0 (Fall/Winter 2020-21)
Course Director: Charles-Antoine Rouyer

In partnership with Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador and Université Catholique de Lille, France.

Course Description: This course connects the three areas of communication, health and environment by exploring the interrelationships between human health and the health of natural and socio-economic environments. It also addresses the influence of mass communication in relation to public policy pertaining to human and ecosystem health. Throughout the course, the sustainability concept is used as a guiding principle.

GNL Components
Fall Term: Students will participate in Hemispheric Student Dialogues on SDGs hosted by the Hemispheric University Consortium and USFQ to explore the connection between natural sciences and social sciences when dealing with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Student Outputs: Showcase of Student Deliverables on SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being

Winter Term: Canadian students will then work with French students during the early Winter 2021 term, to illustrate visually some of the key concepts studied. The deliverable will be a visual production, which could be part of a one day "Sustainability Festival” in Lille in late March.

Winter 2021
Course Director: Dr. Carolyn Podruchny

Program Description
The program provides opportunities for dialogue and collaboration between Indigenous students at York University and their Indigenous student peers located in Australia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and the Philippines. The goal is to facilitate connections among Indigenous students around the world and share knowledge and experiences.