Pedagogical Passages: From Dublin to Saint Augustine

Creating 'passages' within normative educational perspectives at the university level definitely enhances the cognitive processes of students through cross-cultural interactions and collaborative teamwork. In this paper, we are going to examine the pedagogical outcomes of a connected classroom project between University College Dublin, Ireland, and the University of the West Indies, St Augustine campus which was taught in semester two (academic year 2022-2023). This pedagogical project is based on an interplay of various types of 'passages'. The most manifest one is evidently spatial: 'bridging the gap' between students of both universities and two departments (Anglophone and Francophone). The course title 'transoceanic cultures' further adds on to the notion of spatial and temporal passages as the topics delve into and encompass different perspectives of 'middle passages' not only through diverse sea voyages but also through time. This pedagogical 'crossing' is compounded by the study of different cultures, diverse genres, art forms and critical discourses. What do the terms 'passage' or 'coerced passage' entail? Does the crossing of the geographical passage subsequently give rise to a '(re)-birthing' for those involved or to a more complex sense of self? For their assessment, students from both universities collaborated on a digital project based on the topics covered in class using interactive digital tools. They created new transoceanic 'passages' while using technology to synthesize and present their research work. In brief, in this paper, we will share the outcomes of all these multi-layered 'passages'.