XCC Worldwide: The Digital Pivot of BU Study Abroad

Last October, six months after BU and colleges around the nation transferred to online learning, the Boston University Global Programs announced the cancellation of all study abroad programs in a BU Today article, citing the safety and wellbeing of all students. XCC was tasked with finding a way to bring global learning to homes and dorm rooms online. XCC proposed a course to cover the missing elements of not being able to travel. One solution is the new course “The Intersection of Gender, Race, Media and Covid-19.

In its inaugural international course, “The Intersection of Gender, Race, Media and Covid-19,” XCC has pushed the boundaries of what online learning looks like. 

Aimed at addressing how the media and the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately impacts people of color, low-income communities and different genders, the timely assembled class is a one-of-a-kind course across borders and academic disciplines, championed by the Boston University Global Programs. Three study abroad directors lead this new initiative: Professors Charisse McGhee-Lazarou, Los Angeles; Elisabetta Convento, Padua and Venice, Italy; and Professor Mark Connellan, Sydney, Australia. They let us take a look into one of their classes.

On a Wednesday afternoon students of this novel course tuned in to their Zoom class and listened to Lorella Zanardo, President of New Eyes for the Media, as she shared images and videos of women dressed provocatively, being sexualized on billboards, game shows and television commercials while lecturing on gender-based discrimination in the Italian media. 

“Women were treated like objects” on the television and people “found this objectification normal because we had been watching it for years,” said Lorella Zanardo.

Although over Zoom with guest lecturers, Convento tells XCC that it’s fantastic for the students to be exposed to a global experience. “We all tend to be monocultural or monolingual.” 

Current students in the study abroad class say they are still getting a lot out of the section. A major factor was focused on credits.  In true BU college student fashion, students took this course because of the four HUB units earned in an XCC class, but this is not the only reason. Jules Bulafk, a junior studying English with a minor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies said, “I was really interested in continuing this research in the context of COVID-19. It feels incredibly topical and important to understand. I also wanted to get a more global view of the impacts of COVID-19.”

Students value XCC clases being different from other BU courses, allowing their skills to flourish with fewer parameters. “XCC allows my group and I to develop a project based on our interests, get feedback, and learn valuable skills all the same time. I just enjoy the freedom, it is refreshing compared to my other classes,” said Will Regan, a Statistics and Computer Science major, minoring in sociology. Regan is a sophomore hoping to study abroad during his senior year, pandemic permitting. 

In addition to research and critical thinking skills, seeing the world with culturally informed eyes is of peak importance to professors. “Regardless if (students) do a podcast, animation or social media campaign, if they can’t do it with empathy then it will ring just a little too hollow,” said McGhee-Lazarou, who is hoping students develop “a sense of empathy while they are looking at populations they’re not apart of.”

All professors acknowledge there is no replacing the value of in-person learning, especially when it comes to seeing how other cultures live overseas, making certain aspects of the class an obstacle course. “The struggle is more important than the outcome,” said Connellan. This semester students are charged with working with community partners in their respective countries, which is not without its own challenges. There is a struggle to build continuous communication with community partners, understanding what they want and comparing that with what students are capable of producing in the two months left of the semester. And COVID-19 imposes additional financial limitations.

“A real-life challenge is figuring out synergy with community partners in different countries,” said Convento. Professors hope the students understand what the projects really mean, which is more important than completing them. 

Even professors are getting a lot out of the international course. Convento said, “It’s a beautiful combination of talents, skills, different energy, different styles and we are becoming more knowledgeable about what is happening all over the world.”

This article was written by Rachael Kelley, BU journalism graduate student and a  graduate assistant with XCC.