Teaching

Olin College of Engineering is a small undergraduate engineering college with no academic departments and a hands-on curriculum. An Olin education reframes engineering as starting and ending with people. We ask students to consider power, context, ethics, and impact. Here is a selection of my teaching at Olin. (A complete list of courses is on my CV.)

 
 

Generative AI: Hands-On Exploration of the Tools and the Societal Impacts

Co-taught with Dr. Elisabeth Sylvan (course lead and designer). Students explore generative AI hands-on, learning what these tools can and cannot do, how they affect society, and how to decide when, whether, and why to use them. Activities range from improving workflows and creating 3D renderings to vibe coding apps, while critically examining outputs for quality, bias, and hallucinations. Students finish with a personal “AI Manifesto” for using (and not using) AI responsibly. [fall 2026] Read more…

Portfolios for Learning

Co-taught and co-designed with Dr. Jean Huang, this course is for students excited to learn about learning, help design experiences for future Olin students, and turn their own learning into something tangible they carry forward. As Olin revitalizes its educational approach, one goal is helping students collect and reflect on their learning, connecting successes (and failures!) to new contexts. Portfolios are one promising way to do this. Students study portfolios and student learning, create their own portfolios, and share insights that shape how Olin might use portfolios in the future. [fall 2026] Read more…

Curriculum Redesign

In this course, students serve as a satellite design team for Olin’s curriculum redesign, working with community members to imagine, co-design, test, and refine new courses and curricular elements, while placing Olin’s efforts in the context of broader U.S. higher education. [fall 2025] Read more…

Artificial Intelligence and Society

Co-taught with Paul Ruvolo and Victoria Dean, this course contextualizes AI within cultural conversations, ethics, and power relationships in U.S. society. [fall 2023] Read more…

Engineering for Humanity

Engineering for Humanity is an integrated course in anthropology and engineering, offered to students who want to make a positive difference in the lives of older adults in the local community. This innovative, intergenerational course is a partnership between college/graduate
students and local community partners. It pairs student teams with local older adult community partners, and ultimately the students design real, implemented solutions to specific everyday problems. Read more...

Dirt to Shirt

Dirt to Shirt is a course for first-semester students at Olin College, offered through the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences program. It is an intensive study of the global supply chain for clothing, examining social, economic, political, environmental, and technological issues all along the way: from the production of cotton, wool, and Kevlar, through textile processing and garment production, to the after-life of the clothes we throw away. Students engage with readings, multimedia, and local people involved in the industry, and complete projects on a chosen node of the supply chain. Read more…

Technology, Accessibility, and Design

In spring 2018, I co-created and co-taught this upper-level design course with Paul Ruvolo, Associate Professor of Computer Science, who taught it on his own in later semesters. It is one option for fulfilling Olin’s “Design Depth” requirement. Read more…

Products and Markets

In 2013-14, Olin faculty set out to revitalize the college’s Entrepreneurship program. I was part of the interdisciplinary team that created this foundational course, which all first-year students take in their second semester. Read more…

Environmental Consulting at Olin

In spring 2020, I co-created and co-taught this course with Carrie Nugent and Claire Rodgers, integrating anthropology, design, engineering, environmental science, and entrepreneurship. Read more…

Writers’ Workshop

Writers’ Workshop is a communication-intensive course for first-semester Olin students, offered through the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences program. I co-created it in 2018 with Lauren Taaffe. The class explores what it means to be human through the lens of literature and creative writing. Read more…

Understanding Institutions: Creating Change at Olin and in the World

In this 2-credit course, students learn methods and strategies to create positive change in their immediate lives. The course focuses on understanding institutions, systems, people, power, decision-making, and collaboration, using Olin as a case study for learning and action. Students draw larger lessons to take to communities and institutions after graduation. Co-created and co-taught in fall 2022 (while I was Dean of Faculty) with Provost Mark Somerville. Read more…

Context and Consequences

This course leverages Olin students’ other curricular experiences to support critical reflective practice: a place for students to think about the courses and activities (“work,” broadly construed) they are undertaking, and the implications of what they are learning, in the context of existing systems and communities. Drawing on critical theory, we articulate the consequences of our actions as students, as citizens of the world, and as engineers. I co-developed and co-taught the course in spring 2021 with Alison Wood and Lynn Andrea Stein. Read more…

Textiles, Global Systems, and Technology

“We solve problems with textiles.” That is the tagline of a small, sixth-generation textile mill near Olin that custom-designs textiles and fabrics for customers from many industries. Using the global textile industry and this local manufacturer, we explore how engineers bring their integrated technical and contextual skills to diagnose and respond to global systems where more discipline-specific approaches barely scratch the surface. I co-created and co-taught this course with Jessica Townsend (Professor of Engineering) in spring 2024. Read more…

Social Technology Enterprise with Purpose (STEP)

STEP convened Olin faculty, staff, and students around a project combining user-centered design, wearable technology, and machine learning to advance social sustainability. I was a support teaching team member in 2022. Read more…