51-382 Design for Social Innovation

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

Design for social innovation is a seminar that traces the history and application of design methods to solving social problems. The course will weaver together themes from readings in design, business, public policy, technology, social service, international relations and current events. The course will review examples of successful and failed social innovations from local, regional, national and international contexts. Students will learn the role of governments, technology, funding, infrastructure, mindset, emotion, and cultural factors in addressing problems in the social sector. The course will include a real-world problem-solving component where students (in teams or individually) will write a paper, design an artifact or intervention, propose a project or conduct a short design research study that addresses a real-world problem that impacts a local community.

Prerequisites: none listed

Offered: Spring 2027, Spring 2026

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