IDP 102 Thinking Through Race and Its Intersections (1 Credit)

This course offers an interdisciplinary, historical and critical examination of race in the United States. Although race is no longer held by scientists to have any biological reality, it has played a central role in the formation of legal codes, definitions of citizenship, economics, culture and identities. Where did the concept of race come from? How has it changed over time? What pressures does it continue to exert on our lives? By bringing together faculty from a variety of programs and disciplines, and by looking at a range of cultural texts where racial distinctions and identities have been constructed and contested, this course presents students an understanding of how and why race matters. S/U only.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 106 The Renaissance (2 Credits)

The French word renaissance means "rebirth;" when capitalized, it defines both a chronological period (ca. 1300-1600) in European history and an impactful engagement with the legacy of Greco-Roman antiquity. Importantly, the descriptor was devised at the time, not retrospectively. This course describes events, activities and innovations widely understood as a defining and indispensable foundation of the modern world’s global turn. Lectures treat and contextualize various topics: history, language, education, manuscripts and printed books, court culture, trade and colonization, the invention of utopia, the rise of Protestantism, theater in Shakespeare’s London, science and mathematics and the visual arts. {A}{H}

Fall, Spring, Alternate Years

IDP 107 Digital Media Literacy (2 Credits)

This accelerated course is designed to immerse students in the craft of digital media production; including photography, video, audio, copyright and more. This course will have a technical focus and engage students through projects designed to develop skills with production equipment, software, and project planning. Digital media skills are increasingly relevant and this course will benefit students from all disciplines and experience levels. Students will develop critical competencies and gain an understanding of how to leverage digital media tools for a variety of communication needs. Prior experience is not required, but students should have basic competency with Mac computers. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 12.

Fall, Interterm, Spring, Variable

IDP 108 The Art of Effective Speaking (1 Credit)

This course gives students systematic practice in the range of public speaking challenges they face in their academic and professional careers. During each class meeting, the instructor presents material on an aspect of speech craft and delivery; each student then gives a presentation reflecting her mastery of that week’s material. The instructor films each student’s presentations and reviews them in individual conferences. During one class meeting, the students also review and analyze films of notable speeches. Students must come to the first class prepared to deliver a 3- to 5-minute speech of introduction: "Who I Am and Where I’m Going." Restrictions: Seniors only. Enrollment limited to 10.

Spring

IDP 109 Aerial Imagery and Cinematography (2 Credits)

This course is designed to immerse students in drone avionics, photogrammetry, image processing, surveying/mapping and aerial photography, and videography. The course encourages teamwork, curiosity, critical thinking, perseverance and creativity, as well as collaboration and etiquette regarding fieldwork and community-based research. Students learn practical techniques for acquiring and analyzing aerial data and have an opportunity to improve Smith’s approach to teaching and research with drones. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 12.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 110 AEMES Colloquium: Structures, Narratives, and the Evolving Learner (1 Credit)

This course for first-year STEM-oriented students is designed to develop and support students' talents and strengths through the enhancement of study skills, the encouragement of self-awareness and self-efficacy, and the building of a strong and nurturing community. The course, taught by students' liberal arts advisor, also introduces and helps students navigate and utilize the considerable number of resources at Smith that can support their development as a scholar. S/U only. Restrictions: First-years only; limited to liberal arts advisees of the instructor. Instructor permission required. (E)

Fall

IDP 111 Introduction to Interdisciplinary Making (2 Credits)

This course is a series of workshops that situate particular making techniques that take place in Smith’s many “makerspaces” within social, economic, ecological, historical and cultural contexts. Students connect their making practice to the ways making informs their liberal arts education. This course also serves to introduce students to the faculty and staff who facilitate making at the many different making spaces across the college. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 18.

Fall, Spring

IDP 112 Introduction to Woodworking (1 Credit)

This course covers woodworking fundamentals, focusing on safe and repeatable practices. In building a valet, students learn the basics of furniture making, including wood selection, design, milling, parts cutting, shaping, and finishing. The course covers techniques for modern woodworking tools and machinery with an emphasis on hand tools to build skills applicable to life without access to a fully functioning woodshop. Daily readings, writing, and discussion explore the role of craft and handwork in modern life and the history of gender and identity in the workshop. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 9. (E)

Interterm

IDP 115 AEMES Seminar (2 Credits)

This course focuses on the transition from high school to college-level learning by facilitating processes of exploration, awareness, empowerment, communication and community. These are strengthening qualities--necessary for academic success at Smith. The course offers opportunities to continue to develop these strengths. The work of cultivating these strengths within the course takes place when given opportunities to explore and share thought processes, biases and "real" and "false" beliefs, especially as they relate to ascribed social identities as well as chosen ones. This is done through extensive writing, discussion, and activities facilitated by the instructor of the course and with the assistance of guest lecturers. S/U only. Restrictions: AEMES students only. Enrollment limited to 20.

Fall

IDP 116 Introduction to Design Thinking (1 Credit)

This course emphasizes hands-on, collaborative design driven by user input. Students critique their own and each others’ designs, and review existing technology designs to evaluate how design principles are guided by the practices of the intended user. The course focuses on using qualitative research observations to inspire new approaches to design. Students iteratively design a multimedia approach to framing problems, communicating ideas and exploring the ethical, political and social implications of design in the world. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 16. Instructor permission required.

Fall, Interterm, Spring, Variable

IDP 118 The Natural and Social History of Place: The MacLeish Field Station (2 Credits)

Natural and social history of the Ada & Archibald MacLeish Field Station (265 acres; 11 miles away) are explored and experienced. Taking place primarily outside, this course emphasizes the dynamic interconnections of our environment from the small-scale interactions between plants and pollinators to the large-scale disturbance of human agricultural activity. Through observation and activities of discovery, students tell the natural and social history of the Station through writing, poetry, art or dance. Students are expected to walk several miles each class in all weather. Enrollment limited to 11. {N}{S}

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 123 Introduction to Collaborative Innovation (2 Credits)

(Previously CIX 101). This course introduces students to key frameworks and theoretical concepts within the domains of collaborative leadership, human centered design and entrepreneurial innovation, and critically considers these practices and their impact in the world. Students engage with guest speakers who are working within diverse fields and roles to examine and explore these concepts within a real-world context. Students engage in hands-on exercises and assignments that introduce ways of working within these domains and reflect on relationships between these domains and their own disciplinary work. This course is the gateway for the Collaborative Innovation Concentration, but is open to all students. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 32.

Spring

IDP 125 PATH for AEMES Scholars (1 Credit)

Personal Academic Tactical Help (PATH) is a course designed to help students find information and strategies to help them achieve their academic goals. The PATH curriculum explores strategies for success and ways to understand the underlying psychology (how students think) and biology (how human brains work) that can contribute to, or distract from, success. In this course, students learn strategies for effective learning while planning weekly applications of these strategies to their other courses. S/U only. Prerequisite: IDP 115. Restrictions: AEMES scholars only. Enrollment limited to 20.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 132 Designing Your Path (1 Credit)

This course is for students who are starting their Smith journey, embarking on or returning from an immersive experience abroad, weaving their interests through a concentration or self-designed major, or wrestling with expressing what a Smith education has prepared them to do. Students test different integrative paths of their own design, tell their own story and create a digital portfolio to showcase their work. Students learn to articulate connections between their work in and outside of the classroom and explain how Smith is preparing them to engage with the world beyond. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 12.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 133 Critical Perspectives on Collaborative Leadership (4 Credits)

This course challenges students to interrogate the perceived dichotomy between leading as a solitary versus collaborative endeavor. Students examine theories and histories of leadership and collaboration through a critical lens and explore alternative ways of imagining change-making as a collaborative leadership act. Through reading, writing, reflection and practice, the course offers students new perspectives on how they might lead collaboratively. Recommended as a foundation for students whose future academic work is likely to include significant group work. Enrollment limited to 40.

Fall

IDP 134 Examining Equity and Action-Based Design for Leaders 1 (1 Credit)

This course provides a theoretical foundation in critical dialogue around issues of power and systemic oppression in relation to socially just leadership and designing for social change. Students explore early messages, personal narratives, identity formation, the intersection of identity and leadership and how these categories relate to creating an equitable and inclusive community. This is Part One of a two-tiered cohort program: the Leading for Equity and Action-Based Design (LEAD) Scholars Program, a leadership program for students sponsored through the partnership of the Office for Equity and Inclusion (OEI) and the Wurtele Center for Leadership (WCL). S/U only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 135 Examining Equity and Action-Based Design for Leaders 2 (1 Credit)

This course provides students with both a theoretical and practical foundation in facilitation and design for social change. Students learn human-centered and equity-centered design principles, as well as different modes of facilitation. This is Part Two of a two-tiered cohort program: the Leading for Equity and Action-Based Design (LEAD) Scholars Program, a new leadership program for students sponsored through the partnership of the Office for Equity and Inclusion (OEI) and the Wurtele Center for Leadership (WCL). S/U only. Prerequisite: IDP 134. Enrollment limited to 20. Instructor permission required.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 136 College Unlocked: Skills for Academic Success (1 Credit)

This six-week course teaches students to extend and refine their academic capacities to become autonomous learners. Course content includes research on motivation, learning styles, memory and retrieval, as well as application of goal setting, time management and study skills. Students who take this course are better prepared to handle coursework, commit to a major and take responsibility for their own learning. Priority is given to students referred by their dean or adviser. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 15.

Fall, Spring

IDP 138 Colloquium: Introduction to Collaborative Leadership, Design and Innovation (1 Credit)

An introduction to the disciplines, practices and mindsets associated with collaborative leadership, design and innovation, and a real-world, embedded internship experience. Collaborative Leadership, Design, and Innovation Program sends students in pairs to fully-funded internships at host organizations around the world to help lead the advancement of socially, economically and environmentally healthy communities. The course equips interns with the theoretical background of the practices engaged in during the internship and opportunities to practice skills necessary for cultural immersion. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission required.

Spring

IDP 150 Introduction to AutoCAD (1 Credit)

This course provides students with an introduction to AutoCAD. Through a combination of short lecture components and hands-on drafting activities, the course covers tools and techniques for effective two-dimensional drafting. No previous computer drafting experience is required. Open to all students. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 24.

Interterm

IDP 151 Introduction to 3D CAD Software (1 Credit)

This course provides students with an introduction to 3D CAD software. Through a combination of short lecture components and hands-on design activities, the course covers tools and techniques for effective three-dimensional modeling and parametric design. No previous computer modeling experience is required. Open to all students. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 24.

Interterm

IDP 152 Introduction to 3D Printing Technology (1 Credit)

This course teaches students 3D printing literacy and introduce students to the contexts within which this technology is being used in different fields. Students explore the technology of 3D Printers and learn how to design and produce 3D printed objects. Students are introduced to various software used to generate 3D designs, covering the basics of Computer Aided Design and Scanning. Students also learn how to prepare these models for printing using printer-specific software and finally create the 3D printed models. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 15.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 153 Introduction to GIS (1 Credit)

This course introduces students to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with spatial analysis techniques and spatial data visualization (map making). Students will gain fluency in maneuvering spatial data through field data collection, querying/analyzing, and visualizing/communicating the results using GIS software. The course foregrounds (geo)data literacy and ethics, peer-critique on cartographic and visual storytelling design, and multidisciplinary approaches to spatial inquiry. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 20. (E)

Interterm, Variable

IDP 218 Natural Resource Conservation and Restoration (4 Credits)

This integrative course explores the conservation and restoration of forest ecosystems. Topics include past land use history and its effect on current forest composition, evaluating forest ecological properties including keystone resources and species, theory and practical application of ecosystem restoration, and the design and management of protected areas. The legal and regulatory framework of resource conservation, conservation incentives and enforcement, and working with local constituencies is also considered. Held at MacLeish Field Station, the laboratory portion of the class provides hands on experience in data collection, mapping and restoration of habitats. Restrictions: Not open to first-years. Enrollment limited to 11. (E)

Fall

IDP 221 Colloquium: Research Ethics in STEM (2 Credits)

This course explores the ethical issues surrounding topics that are common to many scientific disciplines such as: data acquisition and management, the peer review process and the role of various regulatory boards. Selected case studies from specific disciplines are also examined. Students work in groups to investigate and present the ethical issues relevant to a topic of their choosing at the end of the semester. S/U only. Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only; science majors only. Enrollment limited to 24. Instructor permission required.

Spring

IDP 223 Financial Accounting (4 Credits)

Using both case studies and lectures, this course explores the decisions involved in preparing financial statements for both profit and non-profit entities, how those decisions impact financial statements and how an understanding of the accounting methods employed are necessary to assess the financial status of the entity under review. Students first learn basic accounting techniques and then use them to construct and analyze financial statements, identify the measurement metrics that are appropriate for the situation, and reach conclusions about the financial health (or otherwise) of an organization. No prior knowledge is required. No more than four credits in accounting may be applied toward a Smith degree.

Spring

IDP 232 Articulating Your Path (1 Credit)

This course is for students who have completed IDP 132 or another Smith experience that allowed for reflection on curricular and experiential work, values and goals. Students begin to look outward. After reviewing and assessing important learning experiences, students conduct qualitative interviews to gain a multidimensional understanding of their discipline in the world. Students simultaneously create a "personal syllabus," a reflection on maintaining and pursuing curiosity. Finally, they make a narrative digital portfolio and gain experience with public voice through an op-ed, TED talk or other piece of media. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 12.

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 250 Applied Design and Fabrication (1 Credit)

This course provides students with an introduction to applied design and prototyping. Students learn to transform an idea into a set of sketches, a computer model and a working prototype. The course covers design strategies, design communication, documentation, materials, rapid prototyping and manufacturing. Prerequisites: IDP 150 or IDP 151 or equivalent. S/U only. Enrollment limited to 12.

Interterm, Variable

IDP 291/ SPN 291 Reflecting on Your International Experience with Digital Storytelling (3 Credits)

Offered as SPN 291 and IDP 291. A course designed for students who have spent a semester, summer, Interterm or year abroad. After introducing the methodology of digital storytelling, in which images and recorded narrative are combined to create short video stories, students write and create their own stories based on their time abroad. Participants script, storyboard and produce a 3-4 minute film about the challenges and triumphs of their experience and share it with others. Prerequisite: Significant experience abroad (study abroad, praxis, internship, Global Engagement Seminar or other). For one additional credit that counts toward the translation concentration, students may translate and narrate their stories into the language of the country where they spent their time. Enrollment limited to 15. {A}{L}

Fall, Spring, Variable

IDP 293 Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows Research Seminar I (4 Credits)

Course on research design and conduct. The development of research projects including question definition, choice of methodology, selection of sources and evidence evaluation. Participants present their research design and preliminary findings, study pedagogy and research methodologies across disciplines, develop professional skills to prepare for graduate study and participate in weekly peer progress reports. Course cannot be repeated for credit. S/U only. Restrictions: Juniors only; Recipients of Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.

Fall

IDP 294 Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows Research Seminar II (2 Credits)

Advanced course on research design. Students refine their research methodologies and develop an academic and co-curricular plan with the goal of securing placement in a graduate program. Emphasis on the development of public speaking skills, peer-to-peer pedagogies across disciplines, and peer mentoring. Limited to recipients of Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowships in their senior year. Normally, students enroll concurrently in a special studies course (minimum 4 credits) or departmental honors thesis on their research topic. S/U only. Restrictions: Seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.

Fall

IDP 325 Art/Math Studio (4 Credits)

This course is a combination of two distinct but related areas of study: studio art and mathematics. Students are actively engaged in the design and fabrication of three-dimensional models that deal directly with aspects of mathematics. The course includes an introduction to basic building techniques with a variety of tools and media. At the same time each student pursues an intensive examination of a particular-individual-theme within studio art practice. The mathematical projects are pursued in small groups. The studio artwork is done individually. Group discussions of reading, oral presentations and critiques, as well as several small written assignments, are a major aspect of the course. Limited to juniors and seniors. Instructor permission required. Enrollment limited to 15. {A}{M}

Spring

IDP 400 Special Studies (1-4 Credits)

Special requirements apply. Instructor permission required.

Fall, Spring

IDP 555 Seminar: American Society and Culture (4 Credits)

"Freedom" has long been a defining ideal of U.S. life, passionately desired and intensely contested. This course investigates freedom in its cultural and social aspects. How did the ideals of freedom become so intimately associated with "America," and specifically with the United States of America? How have various dispossessed peoples--slaves, immigrants, women, racial and ethnic minorities, colonized populations--looked to the ideals and practices of U.S. freedom to sustain their hopes and inform their actions? How have progressive and conservative reform movements fashioned myths of freedom to support their aspirations? How have ideals of freedom shaped the various roles the United States plays in the world? How should one assess the institutional framework that underlies the implementation of freedom as a "way of life" in the United States--that is, democratic politics, representative governance and market capitalism? Restrictions: Interdisciplinary Studies Diploma Program students only. Enrollment limited to 12.

Fall

IDP 570 Diploma Thesis (4 Credits)

Department permission required.

Fall, Spring