Global Conversations

Global Conversations sessions are 90-minute lively Zoom synchronous sessions in which students from several international partner institutions interact in a guided, facilitated manner on a list of global topics. In these sessions, DePaul faculty members have partnered with faculty from our international partner universities from countries including Brazil, India, Japan, Mexico, Nigeria, Australia, the UK and more.  These dynamic sessions have cultivated intercultural, meaningful discussions on how global issues affect various academic disciplines and industries, such as psychology, public health, business and more. 

Global Conversations 

Since March 2020, DePaul, in collaboration with over 270 faculty facilitators from 79 international institutions, has conducted several rounds of Global Conversations hosting over 4,400 students from 6 continents. The Global Conversations have been dynamic and engaging sessions where students found similarities with others all over the world, and learned more about the differences in experiences regarding global issues.

​Save the date! 

​The next round of Global Conversations will be held April 27-May 7, 2026. 

International faculty teams can propose a session here before January 16, 2026. 

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​Global Conversations Details:

• Global Conversation sessions occur over a two week period every year in April or May and students can sign up for one or multiple sessions to talk to their international peers on a variety of global issues. 
• The sessions are designed for student dialogue and international connection, NOT as a faculty lecture. Faculty prepare a short introduction, possibly a very brief presentation, and guiding discussion questions. 
• Sessions are co-facilitated by faculty members from various participating international institutions. Faculty teams are composed of 2-4 members. Faculty members can form their own international teams if they already have partners, or they can request to be matched with an international/DePaul partner(s).

• The Global Engagement team at DePaul takes care of the logistics of the sessions, coordinating the registration, providing an in-room assistant that will help manage the Zoom room.​​​
  

Faculty teams are expected to:

• Maximize student participation by incorporating the sessions as part of their current syllabi as they see fit.
• Commit to bringing at least 7 students per faculty member to participate in the session.
• Identify, if possible, at least two learning outcomes that include how students, through participation in the Global Conversation, will build intercultural competencies such as those outlined by Dr. Darla K. Deardorff's Intercultural Competence Model .
• Have one DePaul faculty member be the convener of the group, calling the team together.
• Commit to conduct at least one synchronous planning meeting in advance of the session, ensuring that the team finalizes the structure of the sessions and the discussion questions that will guide students' participation.
• Be flexible and adaptable during the planning stages and during the synchronous session. For example, if a topic is proposed without faculty partners, be willing to work with your faculty team to compromise on a revised session topic. The Global Engagement team does our best to match faculty with similar interests or disciplines, and therefore, proposed topics must often be revised to meet the whole teams' talents and expertise.
• Share their feedback with the Global Engagement team by completing a short survey after all sessions conclude.