Collaborative Online International Learning

About COIL

The Office of the Vice Provost for Global Affairs (OVPGA) provides faculty with support and funding for implementing Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) as a part of its continued efforts to advance the internationalization of the Carolina curriculum.

Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) is a flexible pedagogical approach to global education. First developed by the State University of New York (SUNY), COIL can be embedded into course curricula in order to connect faculty and students from across the world through shared learning experiences and global, cross-institutional collaboration.

COIL at Carolina

Zoom grid of 25 profiles — In a UNC-Chapel Hill and King’s College London COIL collaboration, student perform “Protest” composed by Kristina Arakelyan.

COIL courses involve shared learning between students in a course at UNC-Chapel Hill and peer students at a global partner university. Faculty members at both institutions design collaborative activities for their students lasting at least three weeks, such as completing small group projects, engaging in dialogue drawing on their different societal or disciplinary perspectives, or exchanging scholarly or creative work.

During the program’s first year in 2020-21, Carolina faculty led 19 COIL courses in partnership with universities in 13 countries, including two of Carolina’s strategic partners, King’s College London and Universidad San Francisco de Quito. To date, faculty teaching COIL courses represent the College of Arts & Sciences, Kenan-Flagler Business School, Gillings School of Global Public Health, Hussman School of Journalism and Media, the School of Education, and the School of Nursing, and are teaching COIL courses at the undergraduate and graduate/professional levels.

Funding is available for Carolina faculty to incorporate COIL into new and existing UNC courses with additional funding for graduate student support. Curriculum Development Awards for COIL are generally offered twice per year during the fall and spring semesters.

Apply for a Faculty COIL Award

COIL Fellows

COIL fellows are experienced practitioners of COIL who support prospective and current COIL faculty. Meet the fellows.

COIL Courses By Semester

Search for COIL courses at the section level in ConnectCarolina using the “Search By Class Attribute” feature.

*Some COIL courses meet the criteria for the Experiential Education (EE) requirements in the general education curriculum. Courses approved for EE credit or have approval pending are indicated as such in the below list.

This list will be updated as more courses are added for future semesters.

BUSI 201: Business in Central Europe
David Bond, Kenan-Flager Business School
Partner: Marjolijn Dijksterhuis, Rotterdam School of Management (RSM), Erasmus University (Netherlands)

ANTH 190: Intro to Biocultural Medical Anthropology
Amanda Thompson, Department of Anthropology, College of Arts & Sciences
Partner: Diego Quiroga, Universidad San Francisco de Quito (Ecuador)
*APPROVED FOR EE CREDIT
ARTS 322: Narrative Painting
Lien Truong, Department of Art & Art History, College of Arts & Sciences
Partner: Theson Nguyen, Vietnam University of Fine Arts (Vietnam)
GEOG 803: Seminar in Nature-Society
Elizabeth Havice, Department of Geography, College of Arts & Sciences
Partner: Majed Akhter, King’s College London (England)
MBA 899: Healthcare in the Age of COVID
Markus Saba, Kenan-Flagler Business School
Partner: Ben Ngoye, Strathmore University (Kenya)
MUSC 214: Brass Chamber Music
Michael Kris, Department of Music, College of Arts & Sciences
Partner: Joseph Fort, King’s College London (England)
POLI 438: Undivided Europe
Milada Vachudova, Department of Political Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Partner: Hanna Kleider, King’s College London (England)