I have used this activity for years in language and linguistics classrooms (face to face) and have found it very useful for getting learners to a more complex understanding of culture when their minds automatically jump to differences at the level of national culture. It translates extremely well to the online context, either synchronous or asynchronous, and would be perfect for preparation for COIL because it gets people beyond thinking of nations as monolithic wholes represented by their peer counterparts.

This is a great activity for learners who need to know more about micro-aggressions (specifically those encountered by Asians and Asian-Americans in a higher education context) and how to counter them. I did it recently online with staff, but it could easily be used for students as well. It is a great mix of theory and practice, includes multimedia, and ends with a useful discussion of cultural humility.

In this clip of The Today Show, the candidates in the Utah Governor race discuss the ad that they made together where they called for respect and unity between both sides of the political aisle. 

This article depicts two families with differing political views who put signs in their yard to demonstrate that they still love and respect each other despite their differences. 

This activity challenges participants to define the concept of emotion labor, identify their own and others’ emotion labor, and reflect on coping skills and positive outcomes for emotion labor.

In this activity, participants will discuss the concept of emotional labor and reflect on the emotional labor that they and others perform in various situations. They will first think of a situation where they felt intense feelings and then discuss what it would be like to have to either suppress those feelings or pretend that they shared those feelings with someone else. This will then lead into a discussion about coping with situations where emotional labor is required.

In this activity, participants will first analyze an “Emotion Labor in Careers” case study in small groups. Then, they will design their own case for the future occupation of one or more participants in their groups using the existing cases as a model.

In this activity, participants will first learn the theory behind emotion labor. Then, they will perform various emotions/roles associated with emotion labor as they complete a group activity. Finally, they will reflect on how they felt as they performed these roles and consider how emotion labor might affect their own professional careers.

Trigger warning: This film is highly emotional and discusses an actual case of suicide, specifically self-immolation as sociopolitical protest. Man on Fire tells the story of a white minister, Charles Moore, who set himself on fire in 2014 to protest the racism in his small town of Grand Saline, TX.

By viewing this film, participants will be able to explore what small town racism looks like in contemporary America and question the efficacy of Charles Moore's death by protest in changing the situation. 

This activity asks participants to consider the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and how language may shape their thoughts and perceptions. Participants will be shown a fictional example of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and then asked to discuss real examples related to how language may affect how they think/perceive.

Watching this video enables participants to explain the meaning of the terms: global citizenship, cosmopolitan and difference and discuss how difference matters in today's society and in their own lives. 

This film, created by the Michigan State University Student Affairs Office, will allow participants to improve their intercultural communication skills, develop their ability to bridge difference, and increase their cultural competency.

Watching this video will enable participants to recognize the difference between empathy and sympathy. 

In 2009 and 2011, ABC aired two special episodes of 20/20 that told the stories of children and young adults living in poverty in two different parts of the United States. Children of the Mountains (2009) follows youth in Central Appalachia, while Children of the Plains (2011) follows youth that live on the South Dakota Pine Ridge Reservation. Although both groups face immense obstacles to overcome poverty, the children living on the Pine Ridge Reservation may have a particularly difficult time improving their situation because of several overlapping social identity markers that cause them to face discrimination.

Therefore, this activity asks participants to analyze these two specials using Sisneros et al.’s (2008) web of oppression and the concept of intersectionality and consider how identity contributes to discrimination and disadvantage.

This activity uses a video clip from the Smarter Everyday YouTube series to enable participants to identify elements of civil discourse, reflect on the meaning and importance of civil discourse, reflect critically on their own ability to conduct civil discourse, and imagine future scenarios engaging in civil discourse.

Watching this film enables participants to listen openly to life experiences that differ from their own; reflect deeply about their own value systems, prejudices, and positionality with regard to people who are culturally different; and articulate in respectful ways differences of opinions with others.

Watching this film enables participants to interrogate the cognitive dissonance between stated American values and beliefs and the systemic racism that exists within the country. 

The bias blind spot, a term first coined by Emily Pronin, Daniel Lin, and Lee Ross (2002) at Stanford University, is when an individual fails to recognize their own biases and how they impact their perceptions and judgments. This activity engages with this concept by first asking participants to perform a selective attention test to see if they notice a gorilla that appears on the screen as they are focusing on one aspect of a video. Then, they will watch a clip that describes a social experiment facilitated by CBS This Morning co-host Tony Dokoupil, where he showed Republicans and Democrats the exact same clip of a confrontation between police and protestors and asked them who they believed was the aggressor. Participants will discuss this clip, along with the selective attention test, using the concept of the bias blind spot and reflect on how they might check their own bias blind spots in the future.

The purpose of this assignment is to help participants understand their own cultural rules and biases, as well as conduct research and critically analyze media that will help shape their responses to cultural biases. Participants will engage with the musical Hamilton. The show details the life of Alexander Hamilton but also provides an avenue for viewers to critically self-reflect on current American cultural practices. This activity will challenge students to critically analyze a piece of popular culture, conduct research, and understand new aspects of American culture.

This tool provides several activities for facilitators to use for either an entire unit on understanding empathy through the film JoJo Rabbit, or for one activity after viewing the film. With these activities, students will engage with a variety of topics surrounding Jojo Rabbit. These activities will challenge students to work outside of their comfort zone, understand new perspectives, and to support one another.

Whale Rider is a 2002 movie that follows Paikea “Pai” Apirana, a 12-year old Māori girl in New Zealand who aspires to become the chief of her tribe. However, her grandfather (Koro) is very traditional and believes that this role can only be held by a man. Pai’s twin brother, who died at birth, was supposed to fill that role. Koro at first rejects his granddaughter because of the loss of his grandson, but they eventually develop a close, but strained, bond. The movie primarily focuses on the relationship between Pai and Koro and the conflict that arises between them as Pai attempts to learn skills that are traditionally reserved for boys in their village.

The discussion guide in this tool provides questions that highlight the relationship between tradition, values and identity portrayed in Whale Rider. After viewing the movie, participants will discuss these questions and reflect on how they see some of the themes play out in their own lives.

The video, "Where are you from?" depicts a fictionalized microaggression. After watching this video, participants can identify the loaded implications behind the questions "where are you from?", as well as discuss the harmfulness of stereotypes and microaggressions and develop empathy for individuals who are the targets of microaggressions. 

This activity uses HSBC Bank commercials to get participants to reflect on cultural differences in various countries, as well as discuss how media creates or perpetuates stereotypes. 

The Farewell is a 2019 movie created by Chinese-American director/writer/producer Lulu Wang. It is based on a true “good lie” that Wang’s family told her grandmother (who lives in China) after they learned she was diagnosed with cancer. In China, it’s common for doctors to first inform family members about a medical diagnosis, and the family members often decide to not tell their loved one if the prognosis is grim. The Farewell essentially chronicles the conflicted emotions that Wang felt about her family’s decision to hide her grandmother’s (Nai Nai) diagnosis, as she spent most of her life in the United States, where the individual—not the family—is the basic unit of society.

In this activity, participants will either watch The Farewell or listen to the This American Life episode where Wang describes this experience with her family. Then, the facilitator will lead a discussion about the internal and interpersonal conflicts that Lulu (Billi in the movie) faces as a result of the cultural differences within the family. Then, they will ask participants to reflect on the cultural dynamics within their own families.

Watching this film will enable participants to acknowledge the pressing need for intercultural understanding in an increasingly interconnected world, find an interest in developing intercultural competencies, develop counterbalances to stereotypes and sensationalism in the media, and reflect on their own and others' preconceptions of the "other."