Cross-Cultural Global Conversation Program

Teachers and Students from the University of Zakho Participating in a Cross-Cultural Global Conversation Program 

This program is hosted online by the American Organization IREX in collaboration with the Career Development Centre CDC at the University of Zakho. 

For the period of six weeks, two lecturers and twenty students from different departments and centers at the University of Zakho are actively participating in a global virtual program. Mr. Nechirvan H. Jawzal, a lecturer and a CDC coordinator, and Miss Herjin F. Abdullah, a lecturer, are selected as facilitators for the program along with other facilitators from US, Iraq, and Jordan facilitators. 

During Global Solutions Conversations, community college and university students from the United States and university students from Jordan and Iraq meet live in bi-national groups to discuss global challenges inspired by the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Through a six-week virtual exchange series consisting of six binational calls, students will practice cross-cultural collaboration and learn about each other’s culture as they engage in the process of design thinking and discuss global issues in their community. Individual teams will brainstorm a community project idea to support increased sustainability in their local communities.   

The program engages students, with the help of facilitators, through a number of bi-national calls, in discussions and conversations related to cross-cultural communication, sustainability thinking, design thinking, understanding empathy, defining problems, and ideating solutions. This program aims to help students to have a better understanding of current global issues and correct preconceived misconceptions about different cultures.