The world we inhabit is designed. The technologies we use, the organizations we work within, and the institutions that shape our lives all reflect decisions about how people should behave, what should be valued, and what futures should become possible. Yet many of the most important consequences of those decisions remain difficult to see until they become embedded in everyday life.

Creating solutions requires more than expertise within a single discipline. It requires frameworks: ways of seeing that shape what we notice, the questions we ask, and the actions we take. Design offers an integrative approach to problem solving, one that begins by questioning how a problem is understood and opens new possibilities for what might be created.

Grounded in human-centered design, this course brings together insights from across disciplines to understand complexity and guide action in conditions of uncertainty.

Students will examine different ways of defining problems, recognizing opportunities, and imagining possible futures. They will learn to frame and reframe complex problems, uncover hidden assumptions, and integrate insights across disciplines. Ultimately, students will learn to use design to move from the world as it is toward the world as it could be.