Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rob Glover
Queens University
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accounts. At its heart, I feel like the Soliya programs greatest possible
several people log in and share both voice and video. When working well, the
dress, and surroundings was some of the most interesting parts of the
program.
The website also allows for small breakout sessions. These were basically
mini-version of the main meeting room and were very helpful for some
activities and also for our final project. One of the greatest benefits of the
smaller breakout room was the ability to have a more personal discussion
it is a blessing. Several people in the group, mostly those that lived outside
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the U.S., had some recurring technological issues. One of our Pakistani
members continually had sound issues. He had a deep voice and his accent
was thick, but more detrimental was the constant background noise that
came through his microphone. This made it a requirement for him to repeat
because we felt bad about continually asking him to repeat what he said.
Our member from Lebanon had many problems with connection. Several
times each session she would drop and come back on. The other Pakistani in
our group had good connection but it ended abruptly at a certain time (was
cut off by the University). In both cases, this caused some stress on the
While these were certainly negatives, it was also part of the learning process
for me. Things like poor connection or less-than-ideal technology can greatly
affect the ability of one group to communicate. The natural result is often the
communication.
The people
I believe I had a fairly diverse group, even though some members werent
always able to connect. The members were evenly dispersed from the U.S.
and middle-east.
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problems greatly reduced our ability to hear her voice in group discussions.
Fortunately, as the course continued, she was able to stay connected for
longer periods of time. I believe there was at least a little language barrier as
she would provide answers that werent always directly connected with the
question. However, her thoughts were well presented and obviously from a
Hajar is a young female from Morocco. We heard the least from Hajar, mostly
due to continual connection and sound issues. She was able to type some
answers during our discussions but she has been absent for the last two
sessions. I thought this as a great detriment as she was the only member of
Hasan lives in the city of Lahor, Pakistan. Given his location, he is all-too
closely familiar with the bombings that occurred over Easter. The theme of
much background noise he had to type much of what he said. I found his
engagement thoughtful and he was not shy about sharing them. Some of my
favorite exchanges were between Hasan and the other Pakistani in our
Aruna also hails from Lahor, Pakistan. As the most vocal member of our
group I could rely on her to help me move the conversation along. Her
English was great and her connection / mic were consistent. In one exercise I
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will describe later, she and I were paired to speak in a breakout room. Along
with Hasan, she was very vocal in her dedication to a food dish called
Biryani. After their suggestion I was able to try it in Charlotte and, I would
opinions. As a member of our breakout group for the final project, she was
Kaitlyn was the most vocal of the US group members (besides that jerk Rob)
and her M.O. was what I consider typical of a college student. She was very
liberal in her approach to topics and didnt offer much confrontation to any
Our moderators were Kate and Vesna. Unlike other members of our class, I
felt that they did a fairly good job. Kate is a teacher from New York and Vesna
grew up in Croatia but now lives in Massachusetts. The first couple meetings
moving the conversation forward. I felt like both gained confidence as the
semester went on and they are now much more active in gathering input.
The activities
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In one exercise, we were paired with one other group member and spoke
with them privately in a separate room. This was the exercise I referred to
previously. I was paired with Aruna. We were each to talk about a struggle we
have had and how it affected us. One person would talk about that topic and
the other would listen. Then that same person would repeat the information
and the other person would repeat it back. Finally, the speaker would tell the
story a third time while the listener asked questions. It turned into one of the
best activities of the semester, as I learned about how difficult it was for a
In another thought provoking activity we had to list seven things that define
then 2 and so on until we were left with what we felt were the most
Finally, in our last meeting before this writing, we were given a word and had
to list a few stereotypes that may go with it. This is when I noticed our
facilitators becoming more active. Overall the group did a good job of
engaging with this practice, but for the most part no one was willing to say
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anything negative. We left the session with a request from our facilitator to
Conclusions
I believe the Soliya program can be very valuable especially for college
conversation forward earlier. There are methods that are working now, mid-
I learned some important lessons, but few I expected. While I was exposed to
a little of the other cultures present (I think each semester and session
should begin with some sharing of local culture specifics), what I really
there be creating this equilibrium? And finally, is it possible for nations with
playing field?
I am glad to see we have come so far in our ability to share messages from
around the world, but I think I will have to continue to rely on travel. It would