April 10, 2023
On April 1, 2023, students of fiveuniversities, such as AUN, AUFA, BRAC, PARAMI, and ɫ, had a great opportunity to discuss one of the hot topics devoted toAI and its impact on humanitywithin the framework of Civic Engagement Project calledCrossing Borders Through Social Media and Dialogueinitiated byEkaterina Galimova (ɫ) and Emilienne Akpan (AUN) in 2019.
The goal of the international online event was to evolve students' leadership, critical thinking, and communication skills. With the help of the Zoom platform, the event got together about forty participants. The discussion was hosted by Karomatkhon Alimova (ɫ), Zhanara Zamirova (ɫ), and Yusuf Abdullahi (AUN), who were shy at the beginning but were able to overcome the barrier and keep on leading the discussion. The peculiarity of the 8th Virtual Discussion was that it was led both in oral and written forms. That is to say, Zhanara Zamirova asked students questions and gave comments in oral form, and Karomat Alimova used the chat box to encourage "silent" students to post their opinions on the topic via the chat box. The online event consisted of General and Breakout Room Discussions. Out of 7 topics offered by students for Breakout Rooms, the most popular ones turned out to be Scientific evidence that can no longer be trusted,People with tattoos should not be stigmatized, and Feminism is contextual as it is experienced differently everywhere.Since there were so many participants who wanted to express their opinions not only in written form but in oral one as well, the organizers had to open an additional break-out room dedicated to the topic of the General Discussion so that students could continue to talk aboutAI and its impact on humanity.It is worth mentioning that the outcomes of the 8th virtual discussion will be reflected in student research papers, video projects, and articles.
Students also expressed their special thanks to professors Ms Emilienne Akpan (AUN), Ms Mia Sasaki (PARAMI), and Ms Ekaterina Galimova (ɫ) for facilitating the online event and wishing to participate in further discussions. If you have not got the chance to join, you are very welcome to do so next time!