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Want to change the world? Want to be an influencer in your field? Want to get connected with industry professionals? Want to graduate with a portfolio of real-world projects to help you move to the next stage of your career?

Our new Minor in Innovation and Design, open to all majors across campus starting in Winter 2021, is designed to equip undergraduate students with the ways of thinking, creating, and intervening in problems in the world in a way that invites collaboration, engages people and communities, and does so with ethical engagement.

The Minor in Innovation and Design is one of two academic programs housed in the Institute for Global Engagement, the other is the Global Honors Program. It is taught by highly reputed faculty representing a wide range of expertise, and connects to all majors across campus. The Minor was iteratively developed with students, advisors, and employers in design research sessions. The curriculum is a project-based, hands-on, and collaborative design experience that will help students develop a portfolio of their work upon completion. Students will work with community and industry partners on real world problems.

The Minor consists of five 5-credit courses outlined below, including two core courses (5 credits each), a practicum (taken twice, 5 credits each), and an elective course (5 credits). The Minor will be scheduled so it can be completed in one or two years.

  • TWRT 350 Principles of User-Centered Design
  • TGH 320 Innovation & Design Studio (taken twice)
  • TGH 420 Reflexive Design Portfolio
  • Elective course (300-400 Levels)

Core designers of the Minor in Innovation and Design are: Drs. Huatong Sun (School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences), Emma Rose (School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences), and Josh Tenenberg (School of Engineering and Technology), with the close guidance of Executive Director Professor Divya McMillin (School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences). Dr. Eugene Sivadas (Milgard School of Business) provided administrative insights, as part of the initial interdisciplinary faculty team tasked with creating the Minor.

For more details on the Minor, contact Program Administrator and Academic Advisor, Krissy Kimura, at krissyk@uw.edu.