Update - You can download the 2026 Course Information slide deck in the downloads section. Please visit this page frequently for updated information.
Step into an in‑person, studio‑style course where you’ll join peers with interests in design, business, and engineering to grapple with society’s most tangled wicked problems. Instead of jumping to solutions, you will slow down to map these problems as living systems - who is involved, how power and incentives flow, and how today’s decisions shape tomorrow’s realities.
Across three immersive modules, you will use systems thinking, futures studies, and design‑led methods to explore both present dynamics and long‑term trajectories. You’ll engage in debates, stakeholder role‑plays, and co‑design activities that culminate in short experiential “future scenarios” and facilitated workshops with real stakeholders. The emphasis is on deep problem understanding, strategic framing, and collaborative sense‑making, skills that underpin responsible software and product innovation at scale.
We use a social problem as the vehicle for learning, but we also make relevant analogies to situations in the workplace. This is not a technical course, and will NOT leverage your skills in software/hardware architecture, system design, programming, or application of AI/ML. Seats are limited and enrollment is by application/acceptance, as the course depends on sustained participation, preparation, and a high level of curiosity.
Students explored the following problems in previous years.
This course is available for in-person attendance only and capacity is limited due to the nature of the course. There is no remote section. Follow these steps to register for the course.
All downloads require Andrew login. Files are subject to change and latest versions are available on course Canvas pages. Syllabus for Fall 2026 will be available in August.
The topics that we cover in this class are often difficult, not just intellectually but emotionally as well. While I expect there to be rigorous discussion and even disagreement in the course of our class discussions, I ask that you engage in discussion with care and empathy for the other members in the classroom. Aim to disagree without becoming disagreeable. In this class we will not shy away from the uncomfortable. Critically examining and assessing our most basic assumptions and values is not just one of the tasks of philosophy but is an activity vital to living an authentic life. I urge you to have the courage to be uncomfortable in this class. In exchange for your courage, I will work to ensure a classroom environment that supports you taking these intellectual and emotional risks.