Context and Consequences

This course leverages Olin students’ other curricular experiences to support student construction of critical reflective practice. In other words, this is a place for students to think about the other courses they are taking and activities (“work,” broadly construed) that they are undertaking, and the implications of what they are learning there, in the context of existing systems and communities. Through a range of approaches and voices, we explore basic concepts of critical theory and practice applying this framework to our experiences. By understanding the social and hierarchical structures that surround us and our work, we will begin to articulate the consequences of actions and the impact of what we do as students, as citizens of the world, and as engineers. I co-developed and co-taught this course in spring 2021 with Alison Wood (engineering) and Lynn Andrea Stein (computer and cognitive science). It was subsequently taught by others in fall 2022.