Design, Innovation, and Society Curriculum - Science and Technology Studies

The curriculum for the B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society is flexible enough to allow students to tailor their program to their own interests. In addition to the studio sequence and the social science and humanities courses oriented toward design, technology, innovation, and society, students also take a four-course "technical option." This is the equivalent of a minor in a field that allows students to develop an additional technical area of expertise. Often students use the technical option to gain a minor, and sometimes they opt to get two minors, such as a minor in management and a minor in computer science.

Many students build out the technical option into a full-fledged dual major. This means that the diploma will read "B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society and in Mechanical Engineering" or "B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society and Management." The dual majors are highly valued on the job market, plus they have excellent skills if they wish to start their own companies. However, in pursuing a dual major students also surrender some flexibility. Currently, about 80 percent of the students in the Interdisciplinary Programs on Design and Innovation (PDI) are pursuing dual majors in DIS and Mechanical Engineering, which was the historic core of the program. However, each year we get more students who are pursuing new options.

The Rensselaer course catalog has curriculum templates for the B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society; the dual major of DIS and Mechanical Engineering; and the dual major of DIS and Management. In addition, we have worked out templates for other dual majors, including DIS and Communication/Graphic Design and DIS and Computer Science. There are many possible options. Not all dual majors can be completed within four years unless the student has AP credit. This is particularly true of biomedical engineering and chemical engineering. Also, students cannot combine the BS in DIS with the Bachelor's of Architecture degree (due to state law, which only allows a BS to be combined with a BS degree).

The RPI catalog provides two sample curriculum templates, so you can get a sense of what the dual majors look like:

Sample Design, Innovation, and Society/Mechanical Engineering Dual Major

Sample Design, Innovation, and Society/Management Dual Major


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Undergraduate Programs B.S. in STS DIS and PDI EEVP ESS PSI Course Descriptions Graduate Programs Curriculum Course Syllabi Scholarships People Faculty Staff Graduate Students Alumni News and events Facts & Artifacts STS Colloquium Series Awards and Honors Contact Information	Design, Innovation, and Society Curriculum Design, Innovation, and Society Curriculum >> Undergraduate Programs > DIS and PDI > Curriculum The curriculum for the B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society is flexible enough to allow students to tailor their program to their own interests. In addition to the studio sequence and the social science and humanities courses oriented toward design, technology, innovation, and society, students also take a four-course "technical option." This is the equivalent of a minor in a field that allows students to develop an additional technical area of expertise. Often students use the technical option to gain a minor, and sometimes they opt to get two minors, such as a minor in management and a minor in computer science. Many students build out the technical option into a full-fledged dual major. This means that the diploma will read "B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society and in Mechanical Engineering" or "B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society and Management." The dual majors are highly valued on the job market, plus they have excellent skills if they wish to start their own companies. However, in pursuing a dual major students also surrender some flexibility. Currently, about 80 percent of the students in the Interdisciplinary Programs on Design and Innovation (PDI) are pursuing dual majors in DIS and Mechanical Engineering, which was the historic core of the program. However, each year we get more students who are pursuing new options. The Rensselaer course catalog has curriculum templates for the B.S. in Design, Innovation, and Society; the dual major of DIS and Mechanical Engineering; and the dual major of DIS and Management. In addition, we have worked out templates for other dual majors, including DIS and Communication/Graphic Design and DIS and Computer Science. There are many possible options. Not all dual majors can be completed within four years unless the student has AP credit. This is particularly true of biomedical engineering and chemical engineering. Also, students cannot combine the BS in DIS with the Bachelor's of Architecture degree (due to state law, which only allows a BS to be combined with a BS degree). The RPI catalog provides two sample curriculum templates, so you can get a sense of what the dual majors look like: Sample Design, Innovation, and Society/Mechanical Engineering Dual Major Sample Design, Innovation, and Society/Management Dual Major
Science and Technology Studies Department School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), 110 8th Street, Sage Building Troy, NY 12180-3590 © Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 2009. All rights reserved.