Do you want to tackle complex challenges in your field and beyond?
That takes both analytical rigor and creative confidence. Design is a powerful way to develop both. Over four days, you'll learn-by-doing alongside students from across Stanford's disciplines, practicing the methods designers use to stay curious, embrace uncertainty, and bring ideas to life. You'll also have a lot of fun.
Audience
Open to all graduate students in any discipline who are interested in design as a methodology for interdisciplinary collaboration and have not previously taken a quarter-long d.school course. It is not a product or service design class.
*MSx Class of 2027 and first year MBA students are ineligible to participate due to mandatory program requirements.
Detailed Course Description
People who make marks in their fields don't just know more. They have active imaginations, question what others take for granted, and make unexpected connections. They combine analytical rigor with creative leaps. These creative capacities aren't mysterious gifts. They can be practiced. This workshop is an invitation to develop your own. Over four days, you'll work alongside students from across Stanford's disciplines—collaborating, making things, and testing ideas. Some activities will push you out of your comfort zone. Others will help you better understand how you already think and work. All of them will be more fun than you'd expect from something this useful. You'll leave with practical approaches you can apply to your own work: how to stay curious even in areas where you have expertise, how to keep moving when the path isn't clear, and how to act on ideas instead of waiting until they're perfect. No prior design experience needed –just bring your questions and your willingness to experiment. You'll also leave better prepared to take advantage of other d.school offerings, and with a new community of collaborators from across the university.
Workshop objectives:
- By participating fully in this course, you will:
- Learn repeatable approaches to cultivating creativity
- Explore the dynamics of creative collaboration
- Explore applications of design in your discipline
Instructors
- Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, PhD, adjunct professor in the MS Design Program and senior designer, Future Foundations of Design and Teaching & Learning Studio, d.school
- sam seidel, director of products + publications and co-director, K-12 Lab Program, d.school
- Aleta Hayes, senior lecturer, theater and performance studies (TAPS)
Apply by July 5 (apply by May 17 to maximize your chances to get in)
