DIAD Curricular Impact | 2022-2023

DIAD has helped expand design offerings at Dartmouth and beyond, including new courses and workshops, that facilitate deeper understanding of design thinking and its application in a variety of disciplines.

Design-Infused Courses

Course Development and Curricular Support Grants

During 2022-2023 academic year, DIAD awarded 11 Dartmouth faculty from multiple disciplines with funding and mentorship to support the creation of new design-based curricular modules or courses that have helped deepen and enhance student learning. DIAD funding and mentoring support have helped Dartmouth faculty bring new insights and perspectives to the classroom and provide new tools for students in addressing our world’s most complex challenges, such as food scarcity, energy justice, and climate change. As a result, at least 304 Dartmouth undergraduates experienced the integration of design into non-engineering course curriculum.


"These grants reflect the exceptionally innovative and interdisciplinary work happening all across the Dartmouth community. The projects showcase the possibilities unlocked when design becomes a bridge for boldly creative, inclusive, and impact-driven scholarship."

—Professor Elizabeth Murnane, Chair of DIAD Faculty Steering Committee

New DIAD-Funded Courses (2022–2023)

Anthropology 12.26 / Geography 39.01: Environmental Justice
Environmental Studies 7.17: Nature-based Solutions
Film & Media Studies 7.21: Zombie Media: Memes, Truth, and Forgetting to Remember
Geography 43: Food and Power
Geography 54: Geovisualization
Italian 10: Introduction to Italian Literature: Masterworks and Great Issues
Sociology 91.01: The Sociological Imagination
Speech 20.02: Public Speaking
Spanish 6: Spanish Language Study Abroad: Introduction to Hispanic Literatures

Infusing Design into Existing Dartmouth Courses

DIAD hosted 6 workshops focused on empowering faculty from across Dartmouth how to integrate design and design thinking into existing courses. The workshops drew participation from faculty in the following disciplines: Anthropology, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Film and Media Studies, French and Italian, Geography, Latin American Studies, Latino and Caribbean Studies, Mathematics, Middle Eastern Studies, Philosophy, Psychology and Brain Science, Religion, Spanish, Sciences, Spanish and Portuguese, Studio Art, and Theater.

Energy Justice Clinic

A new DIAD-funded interdisciplinary course is helping students better understand how local energy is generated, distributed, and consumed. Using design methodology, students work with community partners from the Upper Valley to the Mapuche-Williche Indigenous communities in Chile towards human-centered sustainable energy solutions. Through their work, Professors Maron Greenleaf (Anthropology) and Sarah Kelly (Geography) earned the prestigious Apgar Award for Innovation in Teaching.

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Master of Engineering Design Project

MEng Design Courses and Projects

During the 2022–2023 year, the Master of Engineering program formalized a special engineering design component within each specialized engineering track, carving a pathway for students to complete coursework and real-world project experience that provides both theory with a practical experience in engineering design. The first three cohorts of MEng students completed industry-sponsored engineering design projects throughout 2022 and 2023. In addition, starting in the fall of 2023, Dartmouth will offer a new engineering design course sequence for masters-level students, similar to ENGS 89/90 capstone project offered to Bachelor of Engineering students.

Summer Online Design Courses

Creativity, Innovation, and Design (High School Students)

Developed and taught by DIAD faculty, the Creativity, Innovation, and Design online summer course provided 40 high school students an interactive, hands-on introduction into the creative discovery and problem-solving process of the world’s talented engineers and product developers. Adapted from the popular ENGS 12: Design Thinking course as a four-day online intensive, high school students from all over the country engaged in interactive problem-solving, learned how to develop unique solutions and create meaningful innovations in service to society.


“The opportunity to process, imagine, and ideate what a future filled with joy could look like with expert faculty and fellow alumni was a gift. I particularly appreciated learning how design thinking can expand how I view and create potential paths toward meaningful, rewarding life goals.”

—Dartmouth Alumni participant

The Emergent Life: Community, Purpose, and Creativity (Dartmouth Alumni)

A six-week online course leveraged the power of design thinking and the principles of emergence to help 16 Dartmouth alumni navigate career and personal change, and equip them with tools facilitate growth and capacity to create and build lives with meaning and purpose.