Strategic Storytelling Across Cultures: Student PSAs from the UNC-LNTU COIL Project

In Fall 2026, students in “MEJO 333: Video for Advertising and Public Relations” participated in a four-week Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project with students from Lutsk National Technical University (LNTU) in Ukraine.

Working in international teams, students developed digital campaigns addressing shared social issues, including cyberbullying, online scams and social isolation. Throughout the project, students explored American and Ukrainian perspectives, conducted research, identified target audiences and developed campaign strategies. UNC students created one-minute public service announcements, while LNTU students produced complementary digital assets for each campaign.

The project was developed and taught by Assistant Professor Nazanin Knudsen in partnership with Professor Olha Melnychuk of LNTU. Atmaja Lohar, a current UNC master’s student in strategic communication, served as the graduate fellow for the project.

MEJO 333 received the High-Impact Experience-COIL (HI-COIL) designation through UNC’s IDEAs in Action curriculum for Fall 2026.

Explore the student-produced PSAs below.