"So far the philosophers have only understood the world. The point, however, is to change it." - Karl Marx

This is an explorative, first-time, team-based class that attempts to apply the tools of Needfinding (interviewing, qualitative research, hands-on experimental inquiry and data synthesis in teams) to complex systems change. We aim to understand the systems that we are a part of through hands-on experiments and in-depth interviews around "blockers to change": e.g. "Why is ocean conservancy so hard?" "Why do white people so often vote against defunding the police?" We will explore a wicked problem, find ways to rethink what makes it intractable and innovate new courses of action.

Bring your commitments, your curiosity and potential previous experience with systems change; we will bring our research tools; together, we will produce a body of work that looks at the intersection between design research and systems change. 

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Teaching Team