I achieved the Multicultural Competency by taking two classes: COM 263, Elements of Intercultural Communication and POS 300, Global Controversies.

COM 263

I took COM 263 in Fall 2024. It was an iCourse taught by Collette Jung. Every week, we read some media about various cultures, languages and beliefs of people in North America.

Learning about all these groups of people made me gain a broad perspective on the world and the people who live in it. I learned about the various sorts of ways minority groups use code switching and cultural references to communicate with one another outside of the majority. This class relates to my theme of Sustainability as various cultural beliefs such as symbiosis and teamwork is present in many of the cultures of peoples I read about during the class. I believe that mutual coordination and respect is the key to saving our planet. Analyzing this changed my understanding of communication in diverse environments by highlighting it as a sophisticated tool for navigating power dynamics and maintaining cultural identity. Some topics that stuck out to me were Misogynoir where the discrimination felt by black women failed to see progress in the justice system due to it dismissing their issues as either sexism or racism only (which caused many legal issues). Another was the intersectionality of culture and knowledge, where the concept of "universal" vs "local" subtly played a part in how people downplayed others' culture by assuming their own was correct and "universal". Discussions like these really gave me a broader perspective on the world.

I confronted quite a few biases during this class. I usually believed that older methods of productivity were not always as good as modern methods, and that newer technology would vastly improve teamwork. Studying Indigenous preservation methods such as the Hopi's work distribution flow demonstrated otherwise, showing how the community can develop harmoniously while maintaining individualistic views. This taught me that the most effective engineering solutions often require a synthesis of high-tech methods and traditional wisdom.

POS 300

Contemporary Global Controversies was a class I took in Spring 2024. It was about Foreign Aid and Global Controversies and was used to fulfill the second part of my Multicultural Controversies.

In this class, I learned about various issues about global and domestic aid. I learned about the various types of aid: developmental, health, educational, and institution building. We had weekly discussions and readings around various economic policies, and developmental goals. 

Through this class, I learned about the political side of using technology. Several developmental policies and technologies given from First World Countries to Third World ones have ulterior motives behind them, and are not always altruistic. In relationship to my GCSP theme of sustainability, aid can be a double edged sword. On one hand, aid can allow technology transfer and support for eco-friendly projects. But on the other, mismanagement and short-term goal focus can mitigate the positive effects of the aid. We read about case studies of Play Pumps in Africa, once touted as a revolutionary way for kids to play and get water getting mistreated due to poor maintenance and lack of consideration of the weather affecting the infrastructure. It showed that simply giving facilities or money to poorer countries does not solve problems very easily.  Other discussions/analysis assignments that stood out to me were the income inequality discussion, where we discussed about how technology will increase income inequality such as companies cutting costs by using AI instead of human workers to help them create products and Dead Aid, where corruption and mishandling of funds led to lack of development and theft by politicians.

This course was valuable to my GCSP work and professional growth by providing me with a critical lens to evaluate sustainability policies in a global context. Understanding the intersection of politics, technology, and sustainability will help me navigate ethical concerns in my own research, particularly in AI-driven environmental solutions and sustainable development initiatives. When navigating sustainable development, I will now advocate for consulting local stakeholders before the engineering phase begins to ensure the technology fits the specific cultural and environmental context of the region.