For over a decade, Lehigh University, a member institution of the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in the United States, has collaborated with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to create a series of experiential education opportunities for its students, faculty, and staff. However, due to the challenging effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant shift in how such opportunities can take place.
However, not even a pandemic could stall this productive relationship as Lehigh University, and the ILO turned to technology-based engagements to enable these valued interactions to continue. As virtual presentations became the norm, students from this institution of higher education craved more than just the standard talk followed by a question and answer session. And indeed, adversity inspired initiative.
In January of 2021, the first-ever Lehigh University Externship was launched in collaboration with the ILO. This four-week thematically focused research project was developed and designed to provide students with an opportunity to learn about pressing global issues from thought leaders and experts and involved a cohort of more than 60 students from the university and their peers from nine countries around the world.
Students were placed on integrated teams and mentored by Lehigh University staff, faculty, and colleagues from the San Francisco de Quito University in Ecuador. The program began with presentations via ILO experts on predetermined topics such as human trafficking, fair wages, artificial intelligence, and gender equity. Then, the student teams began their mentored research, supported by daily virtual briefings and activities.
A benefit of the internationality of the program was that student experiences and backgrounds varied greatly, spurring rich discussions from multiple perspectives. These dynamic learning opportunities soon took on the name “collaboratorium,” as the sharing led to insightful research. “It was only because of the strong collaboration with the ILO and the diversity in voices present in the discussions that we were able to learn so much,” said Hasan Jashari, a Lehigh student.
“The organizers did an amazing job at bridging the gap between young adults and senior experts in the field, and this program truly inspired me to believe that we can find solutions to even the most complicated issues as long as we work together,” Hassan added. At the end of the four weeks, the students delivered a research paper and a presentation to the ILO experts, whom they had come to know well over the period.
Each presentation received a critique from the experts, including instructive feedback and guidance. The outcome documents took on a large life and reach, as Lehigh’s Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise published all the reports. “Our partnership with Lehigh University has grown in many important ways,” commented Kevin Cassidy, Director of the ILO Office for the United States and Canada.
“We use new engagement techniques for wider student access and leverage our global expertise. We bring the world to this campus, and Lehigh brings students from different countries into our discussions. Using our hands-on approach to dialogue and discussion, our experts find that curious young minds are pushing them to be more practical. And this helps students think critically and approach development issues more holistically,” he explained.
Lehigh University has recently embarked on another significant experiential learning opportunity with the ILO – this time in both an in-person and online version. The institution, in partnership with Lafayette College, also in the United States, recently hosted North America’s first hybrid Model ILO. During the simulation, over 60 students represented governments, employers, and workers in a convention-style format to discuss the transition to green energies.
“These students dug deep into some of the world’s most intractable issues. In classrooms, we talk a lot in the abstract,” said Professor and student project mentor Todd Watkins. “But for internalizing how much those ideas matter in practice, there is no substitute for teaming across the globe, immersing in the complex socio-economic challenges, generating ideas, getting feedback, and emerging with publishable insights and actionable recommendations,” he commented.
