COIL-Group "USBRA"
We are group “USBRA”. Named to reflect the mix of nationalities that came together to learn and share information about ourselves. (USA/BRITAIN/AUSTRIA).
Who was part of the group and from which university?
- Georg Ebster, Julian Rauch, Bernhard Stigger, Sharon Wurnig from University of Innsbruck
- Eli Musso, Anna Scott from University of New Orleans
- Georg: Born in Tyrol, Austria. He is living in Innsbruck at the moment.
- Julian: From Vorarlberg, Austria. Slight ancestral roots in Styria and Czech Republic
- Bernhard: Born in Tirol, Austria. Me and my family live in Imst (about 40 Minutes from Innsbruck). 12th generation, always in Tirol…
- Sharon: I was born in Tyrol, Austria. I live in Kufstein. Roots from Austria (as far as I know)
- Eli: I am from Belle Chasse, which is about thirty minutes away. I have lived here my whole life.
- Anna: From London. Born and brought up in the UK. Family is Bulgarian
In our group there was a mixture of study focus with some crossover:
- Georg: History and educational sciences (did also some classes from other studies)
- Julian: I am studying the subjects History and English at the University of Innsbruck to become a middle school/high school teacher. At the moment, I am in my masters course.
- Bernhard: History and career orientation (becoming a teacher in middle- and/or high school).
- Sharon: art and design, history of art, history (studying to become a teacher).
- Eli: Interdisciplinary studies
- Anna: Graduate History: Local New Orleans / Public History focus.
Why did you choose this course?
- Georg: I´m also interested in podcasts and oral history / contemporary history, and this course fits into my time schedule.
- Julian: This was the only course in the offered history courses in the master’s course syllabus of the 1st semester that would fit into my time schedule (sometimes must commute to Innsbruck university for this course as well). But I am interested in podcasts and oral history as well, so it came in useful in terms of all available seminar options
- Bernhard: I'm interested in podcasts, but never created one. So, in this course, I hope I learn a lot about podcasts and oral history. And this course fits into my time schedule.
- Sharon: loves listening to podcasts and wrote a Bachelor's degree about contemporary history using oral history as a tool. I am also interested in contemporary history.
- Eli: I thought that it would be fun learning more about oral history since I did not know much about it. Also, I saw this and thought it would not have a lot of writing that we would have to do which will be a different way of learning than usual.
- Anna: Studying local/ New Orleans history and hope to use oral history in my thesis. I have transcribed a lot of jazz music based oral histories as archival work experience too.
How would you describe “cultural online international learning” (COIL) in your group?
For us, COIL means several things. International exchange of ideas, teaching methods and culture. A way to get the opportunity to meet and learn from fellow students you wouldn't normally get to. It takes time to feel relaxed with the nature of zoom sessions and so there really was never enough time. More sessions would have been great or at least longer to catch up and then get down to some serious exchange of ideas! We all loved seeing each other every week and there was a great sense of joy to connect each week. A lot of very funny anecdotes and cross-cultural opinions and observations shared. It was a great experience for all of us and very special to learn about our different cultures, holidays, working methods and schools.
The joint collaboration revealed differences but especially similarities in terms of university, interests and motivations. The many conversations among each other ran through all kinds of topics, not only university-related ones. The focus of our meetings was always to learn more about each other. One of the most spoken sentences was: "All this sounds fantastic!" and I think this describes our international learning very well. Each meeting strengthened our desire to continue researching together and, above all, to meet in person at the other universities.
How would you describe your group?
A few answers from our group:
*We are a confident and intelligent group that was always interested in each other and in the studies we are doing. Everyone volunteered questions and conversation flowed freely at all times.
*This intercultural and international group is an intermingling of six individuals who are all studying in the subject of History. Moreover, we have been discussing lots of ideas and thoughts on contemporary history and history in general. Additionally, they were able to exchange information from the different cultural backgrounds and ancestry of each of the participants.
*"Familiar" would probably be the word that describes our group from the beginning. The atmosphere in our group was very good from the start and in the following meetings we were able to get to know each other better and better. As "equal" as we may be in terms of our field of study, we are all different from each other, whether from the USA or Austria, and that’s great. I hope that we will continue to stay in touch, and I had a feeling all the other students had this wish too.
*We all love music, art and history.