81

Virtual Exchanges/ COILS implemented since 2020

38

UT Dallas partner Institutions located in 22 Countries

3,172

UT Dallas and International students engaged

Partner: Sheffield Hallam University, England  

Course:  Course:  BPS 4395.008 – Capstone Senior Project in Accounting, Fall 2023, Spring 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025

Naveen Jindal School of Management

In Spring 2025, Mary Beth Goodrich from UT Dallas continued her now two-year partnership with Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), to guide an international, hands-on consultancy project. The collaboration brought together students from both universities, organized into mixed teams to work on real-world client projects.

Participating companies included Quality Ferments, Dallas Formula Racing, SHU Racing, Tempus Novo, Alder Bar Sheffield, Manta Systems, and Dimple Bhatia, CPA.

The semester began with a synchronous kickoff session where students met their international teammates and began collaborating. Throughout the term, they continued meeting virtually to research, develop recommendations, and deliver final reports and presentations to their clients.

Students also served as “Pond Partners,” building global connections and gaining cross-cultural teamwork experience. The project concluded with a joint virtual celebration to showcase their work and shared accomplishments.

Partner: Avans University of Applied Sciences  

Course: COMM 3350 – Intercultural Communication – Fall 2025

Bass School of Arts, Humanities and Technology

To explore the complexities of cultural stereotypes, students enrolled in Dr. Melissa Hernandez-Katz’s Intercultural Communication course engaged in a VE/COIL project with their peers at Avans University of Applied Science in the Netherlands. Students from both institutions partnered to analyze and compare cultural perceptions, focusing on topics like family dynamics, education, or religious practices. They then created 3-5 minute videos highlighting a key similarity and a notable difference between their respective countries. This project moved beyond textbook learning, providing a practical application of course concepts such as cultural analysis, communication patterns, and intercultural conflict. It also helped foster  a deeper appreciation for intercultural understanding.

Partner: University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Course: HIST 4381 – Topics in Comparative History The African Diaspora, Spring 2025

Bass School of Arts, Humanities and Technology

Students enrolled in Dr. Kimberly Hill’s “Topics in Comparative History: The African Diaspora” course engaged in a VE/COIL project with applied journalism students at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Hill’s course, which delves into the complexities of the trans-Atlantic slave trade and the formation of the African diaspora, partnered with the journalism program to explore contemporary challenges and opportunities in education. South African students contributed local insights, while UT Dallas students provided U.S. visuals and historical research. Together, they created diverse media artifacts, including public service announcements, photo essays, news packages, and short documentaries, fostering a cross-cultural understanding of educational issues within a global context. This project allowed history students to apply their analytical skills to contemporary media production and journalism students to enhance their reporting within a historical and international framework.

Partner: University of Monterrey, Mexico

Course: SOC 1301 – Introduction to Sociology, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024 and Spring 2025

School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

In a collaborative project designed to spark global conversations and raise awareness, UT Dallas students enrolled in Dr. Lanham’s Introduction to Sociology course partnered with University of Monterrey students to examine evolving ideas around gender.

The project was framed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, with a specific emphasis on Goal 5: Gender Equality. Students were asked to consider how definitions of gender have shifted since the SDGs were first adopted in 2015.

American and Mexican students then jointly created social media reels focusing on gender issues related to sports, mental health, workforce participation, and healthcare. Each reel included a call to action designed to raise awareness and encourage positive social change.

Partner: University of Gloucestershire, UK

Course: PSCI 3310 – Managing Government Organizations – Fall 2025

School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

How does organizational behavior differ between the public and private sectors, and how do these differences manifest across international boundaries? Dr. John McCaskill’s ‘Managing Government Organizations’ course addressed this question through a VE/COIL collaboration with MBA students at the University of Gloucestershire in the UK. Students from both institutions partnered to create five-minute videos evaluating the impact of agency on performance and engagement. Each group explored how organizational position influences agency, supported their findings with academic literature, and presented their conclusions. This project provided a unique international comparison of public and private sector management, enriching the students’ understanding of global organizational dynamics.

Partner: Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, Brazil

Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science 

From identifying lost pets to revolutionizing medical diagnostics, the applications of computer vision powered by artificial intelligence are rapidly expanding. To explore these possibilities, Dr. Ben Porter, Assistant Dean of Effective Teaching in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, launched a first-of-its-kind extracurricular VE/COIL project titled ‘Computer Vision Without Borders.‘ This initiative connected ECS students from different majors with peers at Universidade Anhembi Morumbi in Brazil. Using the Roboflow platform, they collaborated to build a computer vision application for pet identification. By inputting diverse dog and cat images, they trained AI models to distinguish between breeds and individual animals, demonstrating AI’s potential in real-world applications. The students showcased their work at the inaugural Week of AI, a campus-wide event highlighting artificial intelligence innovations, proving that collaboration and technology can bridge international divides.”

Partner: Coventry University, UK  

Course:  NSC 4363 – Neuropharmacology – Fall 2025

School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences

The opioid crisis continues to claim lives and strain healthcare systems around the world, making Dr. Siham Raboune’s VE/COIL project in her Neuropharmacology course a timely and important project. Titled ‘The Neurobiology of Opioids: A Comparison of Use and Abuse Between the US and UK,’ this project partnered UT Dallas students with those at Coventry University in England. They were tasked with exploring the neurobiological mechanisms of opioids, comparing patterns of use and abuse, and analyzing the differing public health strategies in each country. Working in small international groups, they examined policy, healthcare infrastructure, and public health strategies, culminating in a collaborative project that reflected on the impact of these differences. This VE/COIL initiative aimed to deepen students’ understanding of opioid neurobiology, enhance their ability to communicate complex scientific research, develop critical thinking skills through international comparison, and foster intercultural competency.

Partner: University of Stirling, Scotland

Course: PA 6374 – Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations – Fall 2025

School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

How can data visualization bridge the gap between financial analysis and practical application for nonprofit organizations? A graduate-level VE/COIL project connected students in Dr. Elizabeth Searing’s Financial Management for Nonprofit Organizations with those studying data visualization at the University of Stirling in Scotland. This collaboration focused on providing capacity-building support to a local Texas charity. Students in the U.S. analyzed the nonprofit’s revenue portfolio and developed diversification strategies, presenting their findings and U.S. nonprofit context to their Scottish counterparts. The Scottish students then transformed this analysis and the nonprofit’s financial history into compelling data visualizations, which they presented back to the U.S. team. This unique project delivered actionable insights and impactful visualizations to the local nonprofit, demonstrating the power of interdisciplinary and international collaboration in addressing real-world challenges

Partner: National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Course:  Course:  PSCI 4396.003– Selected Topics in Government and Politics – State and Society in Taiwan, Spring 2025

School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences

Undergraduates in Assistant Visiting Professor Zhen Yi Wu’s Society and State in Taiwan course partnered with master’s students at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology for a five-week virtual exchange exploring how society and the state function across cultures. Despite a 13-hour time difference—and a mid-project trip to Germany for the Taiwanese students—students met live each week for real-time discussions. Topics included overviews of each country, key industries, cultural artifacts, and the service sector. The project concluded with the creation of digital posters to designed to share insights. The posters were displayed on the COIL Padlet page where they could be voted on by participants. For the UT Dallas students, it was a chance to virtually travel to Taiwan and gain a global perspective—without ever leaving home.