HSOC-206: Creating Social Impact

This course is designed to provide students with both the historical context and foundational research skills they need to create art, design, and media for both local and global social innovation. During the first half of the term we will analyze social documentary photography, human-centered design, museum exhibitions, films, urban planning, and architecture to help students establish a framework for understanding creative interventions into international development and social advocacy. Building on this context, each student will conduct an independent research project that investigates a topic or opportunity within the field of social impact. Students will create images, objects, and writing as part of an integrated research practice, and revise these materials in ways appropriate to the practices of art and design; they will also practice design research and introductory ethnographic field methods in order to gain fresh insight on their chosen topics. Students will be challenged to think critically about the cultural, political, and economic effects of art and design interventions. Final projects will consist of a presentation and a short paper detailing each student's research experiences and reflections.