Coil Initiative

Past Coil Awardees

The University of Kansas School of Nursing and Moi University School of Nursing and Midwifery

The University of Kansas School of Nursing (KUSON) and Moi University School of Nursing and Midwifery (MUSONM) in Kenya coil project aimed to integrate a global health perspective into midwifery courses. Students learnt how to address healthcare delivery systematically by gaining insights into international practices: legal, political, cultural, and ethical issues; policy and advocacy on all levels; leadership to impact change in health systems and population health; and the various roles of midwifery in a global setting.  

Nursing schools are preparing the next generation of midwives to attend to mothers from diverse backgrounds: culturally, geographically, and economically. Meaningful, intentional engagement is critical to developing cultural humility and supporting competent care of those with diverse life experiences, beliefs, and perspectives. The cultural exchange within the virtual classroom format aligns with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) model of care that focuses on the individual within the context of their community. A course collaboration would provide a bi-directional educational benefit, facilitate future professional partnerships, and create collective intelligence on midwifery practice.  Detailed poster can be found by clicking on this link.

The University of Kansas Medical Center and the University of Ghana

The RESP 620 Community and Global Health course was developed as an integral and required course in the KU Respiratory Care program in 2019 as an avenue to prepare respiratory care students for engaging with the increasingly diverse patient populations they will serve upon graduation.  The course explores a wide variety of major health topics and issues that impact people around the world, aiming to expand students’ awareness and understanding of factors that impact access to healthcare, burdens and treatment of disease, public health education, resource limits and governmental approaches to population health.  As a pilot program, the KU Respiratory Care invited Ghanaian respiratory therapists and UG students to join an 8-week version of the RESP 620 course as virtual participants in a synchronous classroom. This experience provided a real-time opportunity for students in both settings to engage with and learn from other healthcare providers from across the globe, something they may otherwise could have only read about in a similar course. A detailed poster can be found by clicking on this link.

The University of Kansas and the University of Bayero

The COIL Design initiative integrated two 6-credit courses: the University of Kansas' (KU)  ARCH209 Sustainability, Site, and Context Design Studio and Bayero University's (BUK)  ARC4602 Architectural Design VI. ARCH209 is a second-year, second-semester course with up to 14 students, while BUK's counterpart is a fourth-year design studio also with 14 students and one faculty member.

The core design challenge involved creating a climate-responsive primary school in the Gobirawa Area, an urban neighborhood in Kano, Nigeria. This studio aimed to foster student-centered reflective learning, enabling KU and BUK students to articulate their values, beliefs, and perspectives on the climate crisis. They explored how to address climate change and environmental issues in architecture, all while navigating cultural, economic, and community constraints to develop innovative design solutions.