This year the Virtual Global Class “International Relations and Global Leadership” was held at our University for students. This course was joint outcome of cooperation between Sumy State University and Washington State University. The initiator of this course is Professor Dipra Jha, associate professor in the Carson College of Business and Assistant Director of the School of Hospitality Business Management of Washington State University. From Sumy State University the coordinator is Dr. Hanna Shvindina, head of the Oleg Balatskyi Department of Management.
The Virtual framework means that students from many universities from different countries have classes simultaneously and interact with each other during the lecturing and seminars. This year, two universities from Ukraine, the universities of Kosovo, Turkey, the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and India joined the project. In particular, students of economic specialties of the ARI BIEM, Vadym Hetman Kyiv National University of Economics, Washington State University, Haji Zeka State University (Kosovo), and vocational colleges of Sumy region took part in the sessions of the Virtual Global Class.
The seminars provided presentations by leading scholars and practitioners from all around the world. Thus, the first session was dedicated to the presentation of our country by the head of the department Hanna Shvindina and second-year students majoring in "Management", Maryna Deineka and Faith Umo Otong. Kosovo was represented by Haji Zeka State University (Prof. Enkeleda Lulay and her students), and during the presentation, participants could learn about the country's history, national culture, traditions, and cuisine.
Also, different countries were performed by experts and specialists in their field. For example, students were addressed by Erdogan Koç of Bahçeşehir University (BAU), John Kerrigan of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Subheer Ramnoruth, Strategic Management Consultant, Director of Academic and International Relations at Whitefield Business School, Pavlo Kostetskyi, a former Ukrainian Foreign Service official, who served in diplomatic missions of Ukraine in Mexico, Nigeria and Angola (2009-2017), Les Ottolengi, co-founder of Net Effects Podcast, Net Effect Ventures and Zen Nest Retreat in Southern Utah, CIO and others.
As the results of the program, participants received certificates (60 hours, 2 ECTS credits). Such courses have implemented international mobility during the pandemic possible for the students.
The participants shared their impressions about the program.
«That was informative! This program gave us an idea of what we need to do to succeed in our major»
Nana Kwame Ani-Agyei
«There was plenty of useful information, but the most inspiring for me was the session with Les Ottolengi. In fact, it's amazing how technology can change our world and our lives. Grateful to Mr. Ottolengi, I began reading the «Platform Revolution», the book he recommended. Thank you for your work! It was a pleasure to be a member of this class»
Anastasia Yaremenko
«All the sessions of the Global Virtual Class were interesting and useful. I learned a lot. In my opinion, the most inspiring story was the information about Kosovo. The traditional clothes of Kosovo were interesting to see.»
Lilia Derkach
«Thank you very much for inviting and informing about this Virtual Class! It was really nice to participate and to learn a lot of new information about different cultures from different points of view. I hope that next year will be even more interesting!»
Tatiana Dvoryanova
«From these virtual classes, I learned a very important fact: if you are going to do something, you should think about it very carefully. The story of Pavlo Kostetskyi, an employee of the diplomatic missions of Ukraine in Mexico, Nigeria and Angola, was very interesting. I realized that being a diplomat is a very responsible profession!»
Roman Dubovich
«All the speakers were excellent, but I was fascinated by “Doing Business in Africa” presentation performed by Subheer Ramnoruth, from Whitefield Business School. I learned a lot. Thank you very much for the opportunity to participate in this class. It was a good experience. I have never had so many discoveries after classes!»
Bohdana Lisniak
«It was a great chance to meet people from different cultures. We are all different, but at the same time, we can have similarities. The atmosphere of the virtual class was very friendly; it was interesting to listen to our speakers. Thank you for this opportunity!»
Anastasia Maltseva
«We learned about the peculiarities of doing business in different countries. And, if you want to start an international business, you have to study these features. Also, each culture has its own uniqueness, and this is what we could see during the "Global Virtual Class».
Faith Emmanuel Umo Otong
«I liked something from each presentation in the Global Virtual Classroom. But I liked the presentation from Haji Zeka University, Kosovo the most. I had never heard of this country, and all the information was new to me. Flora and fauna of this republic are incredible! Podgur's traditional outfit is very interesting. I remember the inspiration with which the speakers spoke about Kosovo, and now I dream of going there».
Kateryna Zagoruyko
«It was a very cool and informative virtual classroom. I am very grateful for that opportunity to become a member of this global class. I learned a lot of interesting and useful information that, in my opinion, will help me in the future.»
Zakhar Krol
We are grateful to the speakers and participants for their interesting knowledge and fruitful work. This is the sixth project within COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) since we started it in 2019. We hope to see you next year.