Connect with people from different cultures at UAL

UAL is Global is a new online resource to help you make the most of being in UAL’s globally diverse community. 🌍 

There is so much to learn in a diverse community but there are also many reasons why we might not reach out beyond our comfort zones.

Research tells us, for example, that people often overestimate how awkward conversations will be and think that they are less likely to get on well with people who speak differently to them.*

This interactive resource lets you reflect on how you engage with those around you: what you want to learn, what you currently do to make connections and what you might need to do differently. You can also hear what other UAL students have gained from their experiences. 🙌

There are also real spaces for connecting on UAL is Global. You can jump on the ‘Sharing our Languages’ Padlet and start conversations about words and phrases in our different languages.

Did you know, for example, that ‘In Thai, lemons are officially called "มะนาวเหลือง" (ma-nao lueang), which translates to "yellow lime."’ or that in Chinese the word for octopus is a combination of the words ‘fish’ and ‘seal’ (a stamp seal not a sea creature seal!). Find out more on the Padlet.

In the ‘Global Inspiration Board’, thanks to other students, you can find out about artists and designers from around the world. If you don’t know about the Indonesian music group, Feast, or Aida Muluneh, a visual artist known for her Afrofuturist visual artistry, or if you need inspiration for an assignment, you might want to check out the board. You can also create your own posts on artists and designers you think the world should know about, too.

Just use your UAL login to log on to UAL is Global to get started. You’ll never sit down in class the same way again!

*(Abrams, 2023 and Lee et al, 2022).