A Letter to a Student Considering CORE 2096

 

Dear future Core 2096 student,

If you are reading this because you are unsure whether this course is for you, I really get it. At the beginning of the semester, I thought this class would be a discussion-based class like any other core curriculum class that talk about big ideas that won’t really affect how I think or how I act. I never expected it to change my assumptions about different things like identity, technology, ways of communication, and how I see myself and how I see others. I realized now looking back at the semester that this course was less about giving answers and more about teaching me how to be critical and how to ask better questions. This reflection is not a summary of what we did in class, but a reflection on how the course changed the way I think and communicate and engage with the world.

Learning to Speak, Listen, Belong 

One of the first things that stood out to me in this class was the way the classroom was structured. I believe that sitting in a circle rather than rows made participation feel less intimidating to me comparing it to other classes. I think it created a safe space where the discussions felt like a shared one not like presenting or a performance and over time I became more comfortable being in the class let alone participating if i have something to say.

At the very beginning of the semester one of the most impactful experiences for me was to annotate the syllabus and being encouraged to ask questions about anything we did not understand whether it was the grading system , the activities or the Soliya and GCC experiences and to be able to see others questions and annotations which was really helpful, and I think it made the expectations for the course feel transparent and approachable and less intimidating.

In addition, we collaboratively created the community agreements and guidelines which i think played a huge role in influencing the class environment. These agreement were not just rules for the classroom but it was shared values and it guided how we spoke and listened to each other throughout the semester. Doing that in class actually helped me understand that respectful disagreement is not something to avoid it is something we are motivated to do too. this changed how comfortable I felt about the class and taught me how meaningful learning can happen even when people hold different perspectives.

 

One of the most impactful themes in this course learning how empathy, bias, and othering operate on both conscious and unconscious levels. The ted talk The Danger of a Single Story was important to me because it helped me understand how stereotypes are formed. The video was showing that othering often comes from repeated or incomplete narratives and not intentional harm. This idea actually helped me recognize how easily people and communities can be reduced to a single story or a single experience. before this topic being discussed this deeply in class i never fully realized how easily I could make assumptions about others based on incomplete information , after discussing this topic in class through other videos like Diffusing Bias too i genuinely started being more aware of my judgements and started thinking more deeply about it first. I feel like discussing this topic made me reflect on moments in real life where i might have unconsciously dismissed someone’s viewpoint and i feel like it made me include diverse perspectives in my understanding. Through discussing this topic in class i learned that bias is not a personal flaw but it is basically a mental shortcut.

The Global Course Connections experience was actually a bit challenging but it felt like the most fun and creative experience. At first i did feel a bit nervous engaging with students from different cultures and national backgrounds because I was worried about saying something wrong so I was quite and shy. but doing the ALTCV for the first meeting with the US student made it less awkward and we actually find things to talk about. and the other assignments whether the voluntourism discussion one or the photo activity assignment. I feel like these assignments brought out my creativity and made me think about myself, what I like and what I don’t like and deeply reflect on my personal preferences in order to make these assignment.

Learning Through Games and Lived Experience

The games and activities that we played such as Syrian Journey and Spent, were so impactful for me. Instead of reading about inequality and poverty and displacement, these games placed me in situations where our choices were extremely limited. While playing i realized how quickly one unexpected event could completely change someone’s life and it made me really think deeply about the arab world and how situations are difficult in some countries. These games made empathy feel less abstract, and it showed me that people’s situations are not just the result of individual choices bit larger social and economic issue.

Another activity that stood out to me was the outdoor exercise where each of us was given certain personal attributes, and we stepped forward depending on whether we believed that person would be privileged in specific situations. Seeing people physically move ahead or stay behind made the idea of privilege very real and visible. It showed me that privilege is not only about individual effort, but about factors we are often born into and do not choose.

What impacted me the most was realizing how quickly assumptions are made and how uneven starting points can be. This activity helped me understand that social advantages are very layered and contextual, and that what gives someone privilege in one situation might not in another. It changed how I think about fairness and made me more aware of how invisible systems affect people differently. This is something I will carry with me when thinking about equity, judgement, and responsibility in everyday life.

Socially this course helped me become more bit more confident in expressing my ideas in group settings. At the beginning of the semester, I was often quiet and hesitant to speak, especially when I was unsure if my opinion was “right” or not. However, through group discussions, GCC activities, and Soliya sessions, I became more comfortable sharing my thoughts and listening to others without feeling pressured or anything.

Using AI Thoughtfully and Responsibly

This course also helped me think more about my future career and how i might use technology within. I loved that we learned throughout the semester about AI and how to use it responsibly to actually help us. and learning about the different AI tools showed me that not all tools are the same and that each one serves a different purpose. Some are useful for math and some are useful for research and some are very useful in generating photos.

After completing the AI in your field assignment, I became more aware of how I could use AI responsibly in my future career but definitely without relying on it blindly. For example, I can use AI tools to help e organize notes orr save time, while still maintaining the human judgement aspect and ethics. This course taught me that technology should support our work, not replace critical thinking or human connection.

Three Things I Created That Represent My Learning

If I were to show someone my learning from this course, I would choose these three things:

1. AltCV
This assignment allowed me to reflect on myself creatively not academically. I feel like it pushed me to think about my identity, interests, and experiences in a visual and a personal way. Sharing it with students from different countries also helped me see how identity can be expressed in many  different forms.

2. Narrative Game 
Creating a narrative game was one of the most challenging parts of the course for me and Haya at first. We had no prior experience with anything related to game design or coding, and it felt intimidating for both of us. However, through practice and exposure to different games throughout the semester, it became much clearer and we tried different platforms and gained insights in the coding part of the game and how to run (azouz helped with this). Completing this project showed me that I am capable of learning unfamiliar tools and turning the idea we chose which is attachment styles into an interactive experience.

3. Final Game Reflection 

Working on this project together made the experience even more meaningful and enjoyable. working together made us both exchange ideas give each other feedback, and basically problem-solve together, which made the process feel less overwhelming and more creative and personal. I remember me and Haya used to talk about the topic of attachment styles last summer because of personal events and it was a topic that actually intrigued us because we experienced it and Haya is already studies psychology but it was a topic that we were experiencing in practice We supported each other through both the technical challenges and the conceptual decisions, and that made the learning feel shared. Even when things did not work immediately, figuring them out together made the project fun instead of just frustrating. By the end, we felt genuinely proud of what we accomplished as a team, especially knowing that this was our first time creating an interactive game like this with a personal topic. The process showed us how much we can learn when we work together, and it made the final outcome feel rewarding honestly.

 

What I Would Change to Improve the Course

If there is one thing I would change to improve the course, it would be the Soliya experience. I understand its purpose and value in encouraging cross-cultural dialogue, I personally found the sessions to be a bit long and awkward most of the time, especially at the beginning. Shortening the sessions to less than two hours could help students stay more engaged and comfortable. I also think the conversations should feel more natural and less forced maybe this will allow students to engage in discussions more.

Who Should Take This Course?

I think anyone who is open-minded and willing to challenge how they think, how they communicate, and how they understand the world.

Tools I Liked and Didn’t Like

one of the tools I found the most useful is AI based research tools like chatgpt deepsearch. I think tools like saves so much time in researching an I actually started using this feature after the Explore AI Research Tools assignment and I used in a research paper I had to submit and  I actually finished fast and got very reliable sources. Another tool I really liked was Gemini Canvas, which definitely helped me an Haya create our narrative game. It generated for us the code and we world give it things to change and to add to better design the game how we like and i can see myself using it for other courses or for personal projects. As I mentioned before I really appreciated the classroom setup, the chairs in a circles and the boards everywhere it made the discussions feel natural and comfortable to me and the activities were easier to manage having a classroom like that. Another tool i found very helpful was Hypothesis which made it easier to interact with readings, and introducing this tool to me was really impressing honestly because i have always thought of a tool like that but i did not know it ever existed only google documents or paid applications on App store that provide annotating on a pdf, and honestly annotating is really important to me because i lose focus when i read without annotation.

One tool I struggled with at times was the blog platform, mainly because everything was public and others can read it, which felt intimidating at first. However, I later understood its value in sharing ideas and learning from others.