Afterwards the seminar’s teachers Gladys Vasquez Fauggier and Scott Archer presented the syllabus and the first assignment , followed by an intercultural training to raise the student’s thoughtfulness in international communications. Philina Wittke, Head of the North America Office at TU Darmstadt, pointed out possible (mis)understandings between different languages and cultures. The first meeting ended with a gathering on a platform, where the brutalist building on Lichtwiese in Darmstadt was virtually connected with the brick building in Prince Street, Alexandria. Students could explore the campuses with small avatars, meet up in small groups and informally get to know each other..
The class follows an intensive exchange between the teaching staff of both universities during the winter semester in order to explore each other’s learning environments and teaching methods. Also, the organisational and technical challenges of this virtual academic collaboration – such as an offset semester rhythm (the US spring semester begins in January, while the German summer semester usually begins in April), a time difference of six hours, different curricula and platforms – had to be solved in advance. The final objective of the project is to explore new ideas for digital tools and methods that facilitate the collective learning experience as a test run for future collaborations and classes.
Introduction on public spaces in Darmstadt by Martin Knöll.
Short lecture by Susan Piedmont-Palladino about the history of Washington's cityscape.
The first assignments of the seminar were introduced by teachers Gladys Vásquez Fauggier...
...and Scott Archer.
Intercultural training with Philina Wittke.
Students from both universities could get to know each in the (virtual) buildings of TU Darmstadt...
...and the WAAC in Alexandria.
The virtual spaces give the opportunity to meet up in small groups.
