Sabine Streit
Student, Florida International University
GL COURSES
Throughout the course of my Florida International University career, I have been able to take a variety of Global Learning courses both foundational and discipline specific. These courses deal with essential questions and complex issues that are best understood and addressed through multiple disciplinary perspectives. The Global Learning program allows students to make interdisciplinary connections throughout their university career, and incorporate a co-curricular activity as part of the syllabus. Thanks to these courses, I have been able to acquire a global view in my discipline of study. The courses I have taken throughout the course of my career are listed bellow.
GL Foundations:
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EVR 1001 - Intro to Environmental Science and Sustainability
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REL 2011 - Religion: Analysis & Interpretation
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THE 2000 - Theater Appreciation
GL Discipline Specific:
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MAR 3023 - Intro to Marketing
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FIN 4604 - International Finance Management
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IDH 3034 - Honors Seminar V: Aesthetics, Values and Authority
GL Foundations
EVR 1001 - Intro to Environmental Science and Sustainability
Spring 2017
As the name would suggest, this course focuses on understanding the natural environment that we live in and emphasizes scientific knowledge in global context about the environment including nutrient cycling, pollution, desertification, climate change, energy, water resources, biodiversity loss.
As climate change gets more and more serious every year, I am thankful to have taken this course to have a deeper understanding on the changes that I can make to decrease the impact of my carbon footprint. The lessons learned in this course encouraged me to make sustainable changes in my lifestyle such as learning how to compost, switching to plastic-free personal hygiene products, and how to properly recycle.
Favorite Moment: The lesson in class that impacted me the most is when we measured the pollution of the different bodies of water on campus. It helped me gain a deeper understanding of how much human interaction can hurt the natural environment around us due to the high levels of pollution in the lakes and ponds across campus.
REL 2011 - Religion: Analysis & Interpretation
Spring 2017
Initially, when I decided to take this course, I believed we would be exploring the different world religions such as Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc. However, in this course we discussing the concept of religion as a whole and the role it plays in our society. The course introduced methods of critical reflection on religion and some of their applications to fundamental topics such as knowledge, value, the sacred, the individual and human society.
While taking the course, I enjoyed participating in class discussions and getting a deeper understanding of the importance of religion for societies all around the globe. It taught me that people need something to believe in and rely on when all else is lost.
Favorite Moment: One of our main projects was visiting a religious location outside of our own faith and writing a reflection on our experience. My cousins accompanied me to a Buddhist temple located in Homestead. We all took the time to appreciate the architecture and try meditating in the peaceful temple. I was very glad to have been assigned this project because it pushed me to visit a beutiful place I would've not found otherwise.
THE 2000 - Theater Appreciation
Fall 2019
This course focuses on the study of theater. We explored the process and product, the past of theatre, its literature and traditions; and the means by which theatre is produced: acting, directing and visual design.
Being a fan of live shows, I have been able to see many trendsetting productions such as Wicked, Mamma Mia!, Anastasia, and the Adams Family on Broadway prior to taking the course. It was special to be able to look back and tie a deeper understanding and appreciation to these shows. We also watched two musicals in class, Little Shop of Horrors and The Producers and discussed the techniques and plot.
Favorite Moment: Each student taking the course is required to at some point throughout the semester go watch a live production and critique it. I went to go watch Matilda which was showing at the Area Stage Company in Coral Gables. I really enjoyed seeing so many talented young actors and the nostalgia the playwright brings about longing to be a kid.
GL Discipline Specific
MAR 3023 - Intro to Marketing
Spring 2018
This course offers a descriptive study emphasizing the functions and institutions common to global marketing systems. We analyzed the importance of understanding differences in cultures and language when adapting a message to a different audience and the importance of targetting specific groups and market research.
Favorite Moment: Through this course, I was able to learn the six principals of persuasion: Reciprocity/Obligation, Scarcity, Authority/Honesty, Commitment, Similarity/Liking, and Social Consensus. All six of these categories play a role in not only marketing a product or idea but in persuasion in everyday life. Some of these tactics I was able to adapt to my on-campus involvements such as pushing scarcity in the limited number of spots to attend Panther Camp when recruiting campers for the program when I was a facilitator my sophomore year.
FIN 4604 - International Finance Management
Spring 2018
Although I navigated my way through managerial and financial accounting and the intro course to finance very smoothly, International Finance Management was the most challenging course I took throughout my FIU experience.
The course deals with understanding capital budgeting operational analysis and financial decisions in the multinational context. What made the course very challenging for me was having to deal with multiple currencies at once and their conversions instead of focusing on a single standard. I also learned about working capital management and intra firm fund transfers. as well as measurement and evaluation of the risk of internationally diversified assets.
Favorite Moment: This course helped me step out of my comfort zone and deal with currencies I would normally not encounter. It was interesting to learn about how arbitrage opportunities arise in the foreign exchange market and the potential risks associated with spot and forward contracts.
IDH 3034 - Honors Seminar V: Aesthetics, Values and Authority
Fall 2019
Although I took three different honors courses (Portfolio Management, Thinking, Design, and Impossible Problems and Global Social Entrepreneurship), I will be focusing on Global Social Entrepreneurship since it is the one that impacted me the most.
Housed in the StartUp FIU space, the main goal of this course was to create a project to compete in the Hult prize. This competition is centered around students creating a business that serves to help solve a major issue threatening our current society. In 2019 the issue was sustainability and the environment.
Through a lot of brainstorming and trial and error my group decided to focus on tackling food waste. Food waste releases tons of greenhouse emissions annually that impact the ozone layer and we saw an opportunity to intervene. We settled on tackling this problem in schools and developed a system called GreenScale that would help track categories of food waste to avoid over-ordering.
Favorite Moment: Although we did not win first place and had the opportunity to move on to regionals, our idea for GreenScale placed third in the Hult Prize competition at FIU. It was an amazing feeling knowing that our hard work and idea paid off and resonated with other people.