Semester: Fall 2025

Course #: ARTS1125

Instructor: O’Brien, Edward 

Course Description: Would you like to be innovative in whatever you pursue? Innovation is about solving important and complex problems to create value for the greater good. Innovating through design thinking is a structured, human-centered process for creatively solving problems, which can be adopted by anyone. In this foundational course we will introduce the mindset, process and methods at the core of design thinking. Students will see inspiring case studies, hear from cutting edge practitioners, and work on a project to internalize this learning. Students will discover design thinking is a practical toolkit that helps them reliably innovate in the face of changing social needs, business disruptions, and technology shifts.

Credits: 3

 Semester: Fall 2025

Course #: UNAS2205

Instructor: Mitchell, Leila 

Course Description: How might we apply principles and techniques of graphic design to effectively communicate informational data to specific audiences?

The course will introduce the language of visual communication encompassing gestalt, fundamental elements of 2D design, graphic design principles such as typography, layout and composition, along with an understanding of different data types, their functionalities and how to represent them. Through practical applications, students will learn how to utilize hierarchy within data presentations for specific audiences. Students coming into this course will need prerequisite knowledge of the design thinking process to understand the user audiences mindset and their level of visual literacy to enhance the quality of purposeful communication. Hands-on activities using manual and digital tools are integral to this course.

Credits: 3

Semester: Fall 2025

Course #: UNCP4604

Instructor: Bhattacharya, Sunanda

Course Description: What makes design ethical? By exploring the real-world factors and practical circumstances in which design emerges, this course will consider the ethics of how people make and rely on the products and services that shape our experience of the modern world. Our examination of theoretical approaches to designs social impacts, our discussion of case studies that illuminate designs role in the pursuit of social justice, and our reflections on our own responsibility to design things ethically will provide a comprehensive picture of the conditions that both catalyze and thwart ethical design. Students will leave this course with concrete ideas for how they might play consequential roles in developing ethical designs that positively impact society.

Credits: 3

Semester: Fall 2025

Course #: UNCS224523

Instructor: Bhattacharya, Sunanda

Course Description: The First-Year Topic Seminar (FTS) is the 12-week, one-credit Cornerstone option for students in the Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences. These seminars are taught by faculty who lead the discussion on a research topic within their academic discipline and their specific area of expertise. First-year Topic Seminars offer students the opportunity to explore academic areas of interest without having to commit to a major just yet. Enrolling in a FTS is a unique opportunity to test the waters in such disciplines as Economics, Theatre, Political Science, History, Communication, etc. The faculty instructor for your FTS will also be your academic advisor for your first year and until you are assigned an academic advisor in your major program sometime in your sophomore year. FTS sections also incorporate outside-of-the-classroom activities in and around campus and the City of Boston into the course curriculum.

Graded on the scale of Pass/Fail, this course ends the week before Thanksgiving Break.

Credits: 1