>
(The Engagement Lab supports the following: Chrome 57+ (70+ on mobile), Firefox 53+, Safari 10+, Edge 16+, iOS 10.3+.)
>
Interested in learning how to use your skills and education to make the world a better place?
Join the Social Impact Design minor, open to students from any major! Social Impact Design students work collaboratively with classmates and community partners to address critical social justice issues, from gun violence and mass incarceration, to climate change. Every class in the minor emphasizes real-world, experiential learning. Through hands-on projects, you will be invited to explore your creative skills and passions for social impact, collaboratively applying art, storytelling and creative thinking to transform unjust systems.
Curriculum Facts
You begin the minor with the Co-Design Studio, an immersive course on the methods of collaborative design, in preparation for effective and equitable engagement with a variety of stakeholders in the creation process. Then you can choose any three Social Impact Studios. Social Impact Studios are multidisciplinary courses where you work with community partners to understand root causes and effects of critical social issues and co-create interventions through arts, media, and communications. You will be contributing to real social change while building your own knowledge and skills.
Fall Semester
Instructor: Eric Gordon, Ph.D.
The CoDesign Studio is an immersive course on codesign methodology and theory intended for students interested in equitably engaging with a variety of stakeholders in the creation process. The course will equip students with the design concepts, methods, and project management tools to effectively collaborate with partner organizations such as municipal government, nonprofit organizations, and grassroots community groups. It will introduce students from a range of academic backgrounds to the theory and practice of collaboration, the importance of power and positionality, and the value of dynamic and engaging design methods. Case studies, interactive in-class group activities, and group work will compose the experience.
Spring Semester
Instructor: Eric Gordon, Ph.D.
Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of game design as well as the theory and practice of how game experiences can be used to inform, motivate, build relationships, and inspire action. The course will involve the direct participation of Boston-area teens with first hand experience of gun violence and violence prevention, as co-designers of games. Students will work on project teams with partnering teens to create games that can be played by organizations or community groups in Boston to reframe violence in our communities and advocate for peace. Games can be analog or digital, depending on the interests and skills of students and partners. This course is being offered as part of the Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence Initiative, so all the games produced in the course will be publicly available on the initiative website.
Spring Semester
Instructor: David Kelleher
Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of Virtual Reality and/or 360 Video production. They will explore how to tell stories and create experiences in immersive media environments that inspire people to action. The course will involve the direct participation of survivors of gun violence, as co-designers of the media experiences. Students will work on project teams with family members who have lost loved ones to gun violence to create immersive experiences for healing and empowerment. Final projects may be interactive VR or 360 video, depending on the interests and skills of students and partners. This course is being offered as part of the Transforming Narratives of Gun Violence Initiative, so all the media produced in the course will be publicly available on the initiative website where organizations throughout Boston will be encouraged to use them.
Spring Semester