Featured COIL project
Tackling Shared Social Challenges Across Los Angeles and Colombia
Social work students at Cal State LA and international marketing students in Colombia brought different disciplinary and cultural perspectives together to examine complex social issues and design responses for communities in both countries.
Project snapshot
Diversity and Intersectionality in Social Work
Cal State LA faculty
Tasha Willis
School of Social Work
International partner
Sergio Arias Flórez
Universidad de Manizales, Colombia
Students
96 students across two semesters
Fall 2025 + Spring 2026
Two international collaborations spanning six to eight weeks
The collaboration
Two disciplines approached the same problems from different directions
Cal State LA social work students and Universidad de Manizales international marketing students worked in binational teams to investigate social issues affecting communities in both the United States and Colombia.
Teams researched the scope of each problem in both countries, examined evidence-based responses, and then developed culturally tailored interventions, approaches for assessing their effectiveness, and strategies for communicating those interventions to stakeholders.
What students explored
Shared social challenges became the starting point for international problem-solving
Student teams selected issues with relevance in both countries and examined how culture, policy, professional practice, and community context shape possible responses.
Mental health and interpersonal violence
Teams explored issues including mental health, child abuse, and intimate partner violence and considered how prevention and intervention strategies could be adapted to different cultural contexts.
Human trafficking and transnational challenges
Students examined human trafficking, drug trafficking, and arms trafficking as problems that cross borders while affecting communities differently within each national context.
Women's economic empowerment
Teams considered the relationship among economic opportunity, social conditions, community needs, and culturally responsive approaches to supporting women.
Culturally responsive interventions
Across topics, students moved from identifying a problem to developing interventions, assessment approaches, and communication strategies designed for real stakeholders.
Evidence of impact
Students reported growth in the skills international collaboration requires
Fall 2025 survey results showed strong gains across adaptability, teamwork, cross-cultural communication, and the ability to navigate intercultural differences.
92.5%
identified adaptability as a skill they developed
80%
identified collaboration and teamwork as skills they developed
77.5%
identified cross-cultural communication as a skill they developed
80%
could identify strategies for navigating intercultural misunderstandings or conflict
Student perspectives
The challenges of working across cultures became part of the learning
Students navigated different communication styles, languages, schedules, expectations, and ways of approaching shared work. Their reflections show how those moments pushed them to think more deliberately about communication, cultural humility, and collaboration.
“Collaboration doesn’t just happen naturally, it takes structure and intention.”
Cal State LA student
“Fluency doesn’t always equal full understanding. Tone, expression, and expectations can shift across culture.”
Cal State LA student
“Cultural differences are not barriers but strengths that add depth, creativity, and new ways of thinking.”
Universidad de Manizales student
Two semesters of COIL
The first collaboration created the foundation for a stronger second iteration
Willis and Arias Flórez used what they learned from the Fall 2025 project to refine the collaboration for Spring 2026 while preserving its focus on international teamwork, culturally responsive problem-solving, and student relationships.
Fall 2025
First collaboration
- 48 students: 36 from Cal State LA and 12 from Universidad de Manizales
- Six-week international collaboration
- Binational student teams
- Cultural icebreakers and shared campus introductions
- Four joint team assignments and reflections
- Shared presentations focused on binational social issues
Spring 2026
Refined collaboration
- 48 students: 32 from Cal State LA and 16 from Universidad de Manizales
- Collaboration extended to eight weeks
- Streamlined project tasks
- Continued emphasis on binational teamwork
- Shared slide decks and short video presentations
- More space for relationship building and intercultural exchange
What the faculty learned
Strong international learning does not require adding more work
Student feedback helped Willis and Arias Flórez identify what mattered most: direct interaction with international peers, time to build relationships, and opportunities to work through cultural and communication differences together.
After the first semester, the faculty extended the collaboration and streamlined the project tasks. Their experience reinforced an important lesson for future iterations: the strongest COIL design is not necessarily the most complicated one. Creating enough structure and time for students to communicate meaningfully across cultures can be more valuable than increasing the number of assignments.
The challenges students encountered with scheduling, language, expectations, and communication also became opportunities for reflection. Rather than sitting outside the academic content, navigating those differences became part of the intercultural learning itself.
Beyond the classroom
A course partnership is becoming a longer-term faculty collaboration
Willis and Arias Flórez completed two iterations of the COIL project with the same courses and partnership. Their collaboration is now extending beyond the original classroom exchange as they explore joint conference presentations and publications.
The partnership shows how COIL can begin with a shared student project and develop into a sustained international relationship connecting teaching, scholarship, and future collaboration.