Thirteen Honors students from IUPUI participated in a virtual study abroad course in the fall of 2023 with students from the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies in Dehradun, India. The course took place over 14 weeks.
During the experience, IUPUI students directly connected with 18 University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (UPES) students by using programs such as Course Networking, WhatsApp, and FaceTime.
With a primary focus on the United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goals (UN SDG) agenda, the course encouraged IUPUI students to explore how their profession makes a difference in the world. The UN SDG agenda seeks to induce prosperity by addressing climate change. Each goal focuses on a separate factor that plays a role in preserving the environment.
Over the semester-long collaboration, students from IUPUI and UPES assessed both U.S. and Indian perspectives to propose growth initiatives. The assessments addressed current actions taken by the United States and India to foster sustainable development.
Honors students Paige Sylvester and Morgan Brunner were among the handful of Honors students who participated in the virtual study abroad course.
For Sylvester and Brunner, this course was an opportunity to learn about a different culture. This program was their first exposure to cultural exchange, as neither had studied abroad previously.
“It was a cool experience to get to know a culture that’s different from mine,” Sylvester said. “I’m from a very small town so there’s hardly any diversity. I have never been out of the country either. I thought it’d be a good way to get me introduced to a world that I’ve never known before.”
“The entire course was about engaging with individuals and learning about their culture,” Brunner said.
Brunner, who is exploring different academic paths, worked with two students from UPES to assess Sustainable Development Goal 4: “Quality Education”. Through their collaboration, Brunner and the UPES students found that the initiatives of SDG Goal 4 focused on promoting learning opportunities.
By using WhatsApp to track their project results, Brunner and her teammates found issues with providing quality education that plagued both countries and identified government initiatives to tackle those issues. Lack of program funding and teacher shortages are two issues that Brunner and her group found. Brunner described the entire experience as insightful.
“We got to see that we’re doing the same thing. We’re both trying to fund education early on,” Brunner said of initiatives each country is taking to improve learning opportunities.
Sylvester and fellow Honors student Muhammad Rizwan were paired with two students from UPES to address Sustainable Development Goal 12: “Sustainable Consumption and Production”.
Sylvester and her groupmates identified the different causal links that affected levels of sustainable consumption in both countries. They examined the initiatives of SDG Goal 12 and found that the initiatives aim to improve the overall quality of life.
Using programs like WhatsApp and Course Networking, the students maintained regular contact throughout their projects.
“Most of our communication was via text and social media posts,” Sylvester said. “I developed my social skills, and seeing past cultural barriers helped with that.”
Director of International Partnerships at IUPUI Ian McIntosh facilitated the virtual study abroad experience by implementing progress checks and providing guidance with the students’ final poster projects. He held monthly Zoom meetings throughout the virtual study abroad experience that focused on helping students develop their interpersonal skills.
McIntosh’s active role in fostering connections between IUPUI and UPES students transformed the virtual study abroad experience into something that Sylvester and Brunner will remember for the rest of their lives.
This experience has not only allowed them to interact with students abroad and learn about another culture but also has motivated them to pursue additional study abroad opportunities by using the stipend provided by the Honors College.
McIntosh later met the UPES students from the virtual study abroad course in person and found it to be an enlightening experience.
McIntosh aimed for the final projects to be educational for students, giving them the opportunity to have a deeper understanding of their careers by evaluating SDG targets and its initiatives.
Sylvester, a healthcare major, found that her profession promotes sustainable practices to reduce medical waste by identifying eco-friendly practices to reach the goals of SDG 12. Brunner used the final project to explore how principles of business economically affect quality education.
Brunner offers some advice for those wanting to pursue the same virtual study abroad experience.
“Keep an open mind about everything because you’re going to learn a lot about different cultures. People do stuff in different ways, and they think differently. Just keep an open mind and learn.”
