Stanford Graduate Summer Institute

explore ~ experience ~ expand

Summer Courses, 2008

• The d.school Experience: Adventures in Design Thinking

  Sunday, September 14- Friday, September 19, 2008
  

  Organizing Faculty:
              Bernie Roth (Design Division, Mechanical Engineering)
              Tina Seelig (Stanford Technology Ventures Program)
              Terry Winograd, Computer Science

  
  This week-long hands-on project-based workshop prepares students to lead innovation and design thinking in teams at Stanford and in careers beyond. Workshop activities introduce the methods of design thinking that go into the d.school courses on topics such as Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability, Software Design Experiences , and Creating Infectious Action.

• Global Warming: Good Science or Bad Politics?

  September 2 - 4 and 15 - 16, 2008. Dinner on September 14.
  

  Organizing Faculty:
              Stepphen Schneider (Biological Sciences)
              Terry Root (Woods Institute)

  
  The class discusses the range of feasible adaptation and mitigation options available to cope with scientific projections, and the challenge of explicitly separating value-laden judgments from scientific judgments. Participants have the opportunity to interact with a variety of speakers from different policy arenas and perspectives-government agency, NGO, legislative, media, and scientific.

• Green Buildings

  Sunday, September 7 - Friday, September 12, 2008

  
  

  Organizing Faculty:
              Gil Masters (Civil and Environmental Engineering)

  
  This course combines lectures, discussions, field trips, group projects, and hands-on experimentation to explore the future of green technology. Guest speakers will come from a variety of backgrounds, including business, engineering, NGOs, and government agencies.

• The United States and China

  Monday, September 8 - Friday, September 12, 2008

  
  

  Organizing Faculty:
              Gordon Chang (History)

  
  This class focuses on particular questions of interest, such as issues of human rights, the environment, Taiwan, trade and investment, immigration, or security. The course seeks to bring a wide diversity of graduate students together, along with guest speakers from the fields of economics, political science and sociology.

• I-Rite, I-Speak

  Monday, September 8 - Friday, September 12, 2008

  
  

  Organizing Faculty:
              Marianne Neuwirth (Center for Teaching and Learning)

  
  This Stanford program assists students in developing highly understandable, compelling oral and written accounts of their research for nonspecialized audiences. As a result of this time-efficient and focused approach, participants experience greater success during job talks, when writing grant requests or proposals, when communicating with the media, and during informal conversations with professional and personal contacts.

• Interdisciplinary Problem-Solving: Responding to Pandemics

  Sunday dinner, September 7 - Friday, September 12, 2008

  
  

  Organizing Faculty:
              John Boothroyd (Microbiology and Immunology)

  
  This course brings a diverse mix of graduate students together with invited speakers to teach one another about alternative ways to think about and approach a problem, using bird flu as a wonderful (and terrifying) example. Students will brainstorm around topics related to this topic, including risk analysis, technology applications, and ethical considerations.

• Managing Groups in Teams

  Monday, September 8 - Friday, September 12, 2008

  
  

  Organizing Instructors:
              Scott Wiltermuth and Caitlin Hogan (GSB)
  Participating Faculty:
              Deborah Gruenfeld (GSB)

  
  This course on the theory and practice of making teams work has two primary goals:  first, to provide a conceptual framework for understanding group dynamics and their effects on team performance, and second, to provide opportunities to reflect on and develop your ability to build and manage effective groups and teams.