[Design] is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun. — Mary Lou Cook
Why Join the Studio?
Employers everywhere are looking for new graduates with not only a strong background in a discipline but also who have the skills to jump in a make a difference immediately. According to one recent survey, employers value these 10 skills the most:
- The ability to work well in teams, especially with people different from yourself
- An understanding of science and technology and how these subjects are used in real-world settings
- The ability to write and speak well
- The ability to think clearly about complex problems
- The ability to analyze a problem to develop workable solutions
- An understanding of global context in which work is now done
- The ability to be creative and innovative in solving problems
- The ability to apply knowledge and skills in new settings
- The ability to understand numbers and statistics
- A strong sense of ethics and integrity
Similar results were found in numerous research studies conducted with employers in the last five years. Participating in the Design Thinking Studio in Social Innovation will give you advanced practice in almost all of these areas core to a liberal arts education. You’ll be able to speak to employers about these skills with specific examples from your Studio experience, putting you well ahead of others new graduates in the application pool.
What Will You (L)Earn?
In joining the Studio, you’ll work in a start-up environment unlike any experience you’ve had during the regular semester, practicing the skills listed above every day. You’ll learn the mindsets needed to address important issues in the community and the workplace, develop a rich portfolio of diverse documents that showcase your work in this unique experience, and complete a personalized research project that connects our social change work with your disciplinary identity.
You will also earn the following elements for your degree audit:
- Your two required Advanced Studies in COR
- Your COR capstone seminar (for juniors and seniors)
- An ELR in service-learning
- One course toward the Professional Writing Studies minor
You might be able to earn credit toward major and minor requirements at the discretion of those program coordinators.
How Do You Apply?
To join the Design Thinking in Social Innovation Spring 2019 pilot, you’ll complete a short written application form and informational interview with a program faculty member. The goal of this process is to ensure a diverse, interdisciplinary cohort of students and to make sure you are prepared for the experience. APPLY NOW!
How Do You Register?
Once the application process is complete, the program coordinator will register you for the 16sh experience during pre-registration. The courses you will see on your schedule are listed here. You must register for all four “courses.” If you have requirements you must complete during that semester in other programs, please contact your advisor and the Studio coordinator to discuss options.
What Happens After You’re Accepted?
In late November and early December, you can expect a couple of fun events in our Studio space so that we can all get to know each other, decide how we want to personalize our space, and meet members of the local community. We’ll offer an informal, optional design thinking reading group for those of you on campus in Winter Term. After that, we’ll see you in the Spring!