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University of Florida

Beyond Borders: Human Rights in the Americas


UF Faculty: Joel Correia
Department: Center for Latin American Studies
College: Center for Latin American Studies

Partner Faculty: Paige Poole
Department: English
Partner Institution: Universidad del Norte (Colombia)
Title: Beyond Borders: Human Rights in the Americas
Project Description: Students in an English language class from Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia and those in University of Florida class on Human Rights in Latin America were partnered to discuss human rights across the Americas over the course of a semester. Building from the idea of having a pen pal, students were divided into small groups and provided discussion prompts about key themes/topics. The students discussed the defined topics by exchanging five letters with their partners throughout the semester with a synchronous Zoom meeting to talk at the close of the activity.
Learning Outcomes:
  • Compare and contrast human rights issues in the United States and Colombia with attention to broader trends in the Americas
  • Expand global perspectives on human rights
  • Deepen cross-cultural awareness and empathy through shared experiences
  • Develop written and oral communications skills by working with a partner classroom
  • Demonstrate ability to coordinate and schedule meetings with peers in international locales
Participating Countries: Colombia
Discipline: English as a Second Language, Human Rights
UF Course Code & Name: LAS 4935 - Human Rights in Latin America
Project Duration: 11 weeks
Activity Type(s): Student-to-Student Dialogue

Time allotted to each activity:
  • Synchronous Activities: 2 hours
  • Asynchronous Activities: 1 hour
  • Individual Work: 5 hours
Technology Tools:
  • Videoconference (i.e., Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts)
  • Collaborative Authoring Platforms (i.e., Google Forms, Google Docs, Google Slides, Google Sheets)
  • Email
Sequence of Activities: Icebreaker class-to-class synchronous meeting, followed by students, in small groups, writing five letters each back and forth from one class to the next discussing letter prompts focused on human rights in each country. Ended with a synchronous small group discussion.