Category: Introductory Seminar (CGST 205)

Senior Thesis Film

Titled “Knocking On Wood,” my senior thesis film is a drama-comedy about squabbling siblings who rob a house. I organized the cast, crew, and locations, managed pre-production logistics, and led a 15-person team through every production stage. I maximized minimal budgets, showcased resource management skills, and handled film editing, sound design, and collaboration with the…
Innovations, Climate Action, and Intercultural Education in the European Union”

In this Global Engagement 205 seminar class, we gave and received feedback from classmates on our reflections. Additionally, James Lipton came in and spoke to us about his work in the tech and digital world in the European Union. Two particular topics he spoke about that interested me were climate action through tech, open innovation…
Standard Language Ideology, Global Stereotyping Through Media

In this session of the Global Engagement 205 seminar, Elizabeth (Beth) Hepford came in to discuss the effects of TV and entertainment on children’s ideology and general development. She talked about the misrepresentation of characters with different religious, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds in children’s TV and entertainment. These narratives reflect how we, as a society,…
Connecting Across Cultures: The Power of Zoom

In this session of the Global Engagement 205 seminar, we zoomed in with students from Egypt. I didn’t really know what to expect and definitely felt a bit uncertain about just having a small chat with these students I’d never met. As we introduced ourselves and defined ourselves in one word, I could tell the…
Exploring Intercultural and Multicultural Education

In this session of the Global Engagement 205 seminar course, we discussed intercultural vs. multicultural education styles. Professor Gorlewski lectured about the difference between the two, which made me reflect on how my background is much more rooted in intercultural education than multicultural. I am a privileged white male who has not experienced much hardship…
Linguistic Relativity and Cultural Identity

In this session of the Global Engagement seminar course, we split into three groups to create presentations on different topics from Ingrid Piller’s reading about Language and Culture. The three topics were: • Communicative relativity, A language with a name, and Linguistic relativity – the group I was in. Our group examined different examples of…
Understanding Critical Incidents

In this session of the 205 Global Engagement Seminar, we focused on dealing with “critical incidents”. We first reviewed what critical incidents are and how they stem from a lack of or unclear communication, which those involved typically find aggravating, problematic, or even confusing. These incidents typically occur due to cultural clashes. The critical incident…
Exploring Intercultural Praxis: Reflections on Cultural Backgrounds and Dialogue

In this 205 global engagement seminar session, Professor Gorlewski assigned us an intercultural praxis exercise to reflect on our backgrounds. My cultural background is best described as American-European. I grew up in New York City, alternating time between my American mother and Italian father. Being one of the most diverse cities in the world, I…