Collaborative Learning Activity 1.1 - How does your country express nationalism?

Procedures for Completing Activity. You can complete this activity using the following steps. It is recommended that you meet with the members of your local group so you can all work on the activity at the same time.

Step 1 - Each local group should gather at least three different national symbols for your country. Use the Internet, a digital camera, or a scanner to capture these images. Symbols can be pictures, currency, songs, banners - consider using any form of media that expresses national identity.

Step 2 - When local groups finish gathering their symbols, send copies to your instructor and to your international teammates using e-mail or the Digital Drop Box. For example, you can insert digital images into a Word document, save the Word document, and upload the document in the Digital Drop Box.

Step 3 - After groups receive the symbols from their teammates, go to the Group Discussion Board and find the forum with the title "Lesson 1 - National Symbols". Your team should use this forum to discuss the following questions. Try to discuss the questions long enough so that each member has a chance to share a view and respond to at least one other member of the team.

(1) What messages are symbolized in the flags and currency of Georgia in the 1950s and of the European Union in the 1990s?

(2) Review the symbols of nationalism gathered by your team. Are they symbols of inclusion or exclusion? Which symbols pertain to shared social ties, examples of collective struggle, ideology, group identity, or anything else that portrays the emotional or geographic dimensions of nationalism?