Design for Social Innovation
Instructor permission required. Join the waitlist in Vergil to request registration.
This project-based course equips students with the tools of human-centered design to address real-world challenges in the social sector. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students act as “intrapreneurs,” designing solutions on behalf of nonprofit, government, and social enterprise clients. Through a structured 12-week innovation cycle, students move through four design phases:
Explore
(stakeholder research and mapping),
Reframe
(synthesis and insight development),
Generate
(ideation and concept creation), and
Prototype
(building and testing solutions).
Students develop key competencies in design thinking, project and client management, stakeholder interviewing, problem framing, prototyping, and storytelling. The course culminates in a final presentation and deliverables that include an implementation blueprint and pitch materials for client use.
Client organizations span sectors such as education, food systems, sustainability, and civic engagement. Class meetings include workshops, presentations, feedback sessions, and one-on-one team advising. Deliverables are team-based, and participation is evaluated through both class engagement and weekly reflections.
This course is designed for students seeking hands-on experience in social innovation and a creative, collaborative approach to systems-level change.
- Department: Tech Policy and Innovation
- W 1:10 p.m.-3 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Sarah M Holloway
CULPA: 1 Info - 3 points
The Politics of Defense in the United St
Politics of U.S. Defense
This course examines how national security and defense policy are developed and implemented in the U.S., focusing on political processes and institutional dynamics. Topics include military strategy, budgeting, force structure, acquisition, personnel policy, and the use of force. Students explore five key dimensions: partisan politics, Congress–Executive relations, civil-military relations, inter-service dynamics, and coordination across federal agencies. While grounded in U.S. policy, the course addresses global contexts and current debates, including defense reform, great-power competition, and the sustainability of the all-volunteer force. Readings span historical and contemporary sources.
- Department: International Security & Diplomacy
- W 3:10 p.m.-5 p.m.
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Instructor:
Michael O'Hanlon
Wikipedia Info - 3 points
International Political Economy
Int'l Political Economy
IFEP Concentration Registration Priority.
This course examines the intersection of international politics and international economics. It covers an analysis of the historical background to and contemporary reality of the political economy of international trade, finance, monetary relations, foreign investment, and climate policy; problems of economic development; and globalization.
- Department: International Finance & Economic Policy
- M 5:10 p.m.-7 p.m.
-
Instructor:
Markus H Jaeger
Info - 3 points