Beyond Boundaries Seminar (2 credits total)
This course will cover selected relevant topics including interdisciplinary projects and lectures, collaboration, ideation exercises, and college student development. It is an interactive seminar in which each program participant will participate in prototyping futures, mind-mapping, salon-type discussions, dialogue, reflection and related activities. There will be opportunities to meet and hear from faculty representing all 7 schools at Washington University. The knowledge gained is designed to contribute to academic success, personal development, and a more rewarding social and academic experience over the course of the college experience. This is a 1 credit, pass/fail course offered both Fall & Spring semesters during the first year.
College Writing (3 credits)
During the fall semester of the first year, Beyond Boundaries program students will take a 3-unit common College Writing course (a requirement for most first year students at Washington University). This course will focus on basic writing skills and communication across disciplines. It will meet three days per week. The course will be taught by a faculty member of the College Writing program in sections of 12 students. It will include various contributions from faculty in other departments and across divisions through lecture series, class visits, panels, and interviews. Students will self-select into one of the following themes: Ampersand Ireland; Citizen Scientist, Dreams & Nightmares; Writing Identity; Writing, Literature & Justice; Place & Perspective; Power & Commodity Culture; Writing Technology; When I’m 64.
Beyond Boundaries Courses (3 credits each, open to all first year students)
In addition to the classes mentioned above, first year students in the Beyond Boundaries Program will be required to complete two Beyond Boundaries courses (one in the Fall and one in the Spring), for which they will have priority enrollment.
Beyond Boundaries courses, which are funded by the Office of the Provost and offered to first year students only, are designed to prepare students for a rapidly evolving world characterized by social, political, scientific, and economic problems that cannot be solved using knowledge from a single discipline. Team-taught by faculty from different schools across Washington University, Beyond Boundaries courses offer a window into how scholars from different disciplines approach big, critical topics – like our aging population, the nature of creativity, the phenomenon of climate change, and the evolving art of medicine.
These courses will offer first year students in this program tangible examples from interdisciplinary approaches to these topics, including examples of faculty from across schools participating in interdisciplinary exploration. Some courses within the schools, which have been pre-designated by the Faculty Lead Team as meeting the requirements of interdisciplinary courses, may also count towards this requirement in the Spring semester.
Offered Fall 2023:
Designing Creativity: Innovation across disciplines (Professors Bruce Lindsey & Rob Morgan)
From “Ah-ha” epiphanies to slow-developing discoveries, the creative process has been employed by innovators and artists in virtually every corner of the globe for centuries. Designing Creativity is a course that will explore the study and practice of the creative process across many disciplines with input from prominent thinkers and practitioners in the areas of medicine, neuroscience, law, engineering, architecture, human-centered design, business, stage design, and the performing arts. The class will also incorporate practice of design thinking and creativity techniques in a LAB component that will allow students to explore the development of innovative ideas in collaborative teams followed by project presentations to core faculty and classmates. Course website is HERE.
Earth’s Future: Causes and consequences of global climate change (Professors T.R. Kidder & Michael Wysession)
Climate change is said by many to be one of the most important issues of our time. This course examines 1) the physical basis for climate change; 2) how climates are changing and how we know and assess that climates are changing; and 3) the effects of climate change on natural and human systems. The course is team-taught and will involve participation by scholars across the university with expertise in specific subjects. Earth’s Future is a broad, introductory course for first year students. While this course presumes no special subject matter knowledge on the part of the student you will be exposed to a broad array of scholarship across the sciences, social sciences, engineering, and humanities. Be sure to check out the podcast episode featuring Professor Kidder talking about this class.
The Endgame of Entrepreneurship: Leveraging Capitalism for Good (Professors II Luscri & Joe Steensma)
Historically, profit has been a key driver of human behavior. In this class, students will learn to take advantage of the profit-seeking motive of capitalism while also learning from mistakes and unintended consequences capitalism has caused throughout history. Students will apply these learnings toward profit-seeking solutions for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals — which are global challenges that call us to work together with boldness and urgency. We will explore how skills from entrepreneurship and venture creation can be used to improve water, climate, education and gender equality globally and here in St. Louis. In interdisciplinary teams, students will learn how to define a problem; listen to customers, competitors and collaborators; create value; measure impact; and communicate their vision. Bold entrepreneurial spirit and skills learned in this class will guide students in their further WashU studies and beyond. Learn more about this course on the podcast episode featuring some of the professors.
When I’m 64: Transforming Your Future (Professors Nancy Morrow-Howell, Brian Carpenter, & Susy Stark)
Whether you know it or not, you’re living in the midst of a revolution – a revolution that is going to change your personal and professional lives. Although old age may seem a long way off, you’ll likely live to age 80 or beyond, with a 50% chance of seeing your 100th birthday. The demographic revolution you’re going to live through will change the health care you receive, the house you live in, the car you drive, the jobs you do, and the relationships you have. This class will give you a competitive edge in understanding how you can harness what’s happening to shape your career and lifestyle. In class you’ll be introduced to leaders and ideas from many fields – medicine, engineering, architecture, public health, social work, law, business, art, and psychology – focused on the issues of our aging society. There will also be opportunities to tailor the class to your interests through events on and off campus, including movies, lectures, performances, field trips, and community projects. Each week, we’ll gather for lectures and also break into small groups for discussion. This course will set you on a path to lead the aging revolution and transform the society of tomorrow. Be sure to check out the podcast episode featuring these faculty members talking about their class as well as this article on the course HERE.
Morality and Markets (Professor Peter Boumgarden & Abram Van Engen)
What does it look like to live a moral life in today’s market system? We know all too well what it does not look like. The news is filled with moral failures of leaders and executives at top firms. We like to believe that we would behave differently, but what kind of pressures inform our moral choices? What pulls us, what pushes us, and what persuades us to act one way rather than another? These are the questions that a course combining business and literature can open in unique ways, for the world of fiction helps open the ethical dilemmas of the market we inhabit everyday. In the following course, we use great books, classics of film and modern television, and the tools of modern psychology and business strategy to think critically about what is entailed in living a moral life in the midst of the modern market.