In the late 1990's and early 2000's research psychologists began the field of positive psychology to combat two trends:

• a large and growing body of faux scientific self-help literature that was not based on empirical science
• a historical legacy of the field of psychology almost exclusively focusing on the function and operation of negative emotions (fear, anxiety, depression, anger, etc.)

Positive psychology focuses squarely on positive emotions (e.g., happiness, gratitude, love, awe) as well as experiences like forgiveness, resilience, and flow that improve our psychological well-being. With a focus on human strengths and virtues, the difference between that which we think will make us happy compared to what will actually improve happiness, the ways in which we can improve our satisfaction with relationships, and meaningful cognitive and behavioral changes that can have a big impact on one's psychological well-being, this class will review research on how to achieve a more satisfying life. Although this is not a self-help or "self-care" course, by reviewing the scientific literature and assigning exercises for personal practice this course will offer meaningful experiences for self-reflection and insight into how techniques can be applied to one's own daily life.

Elective

The health of the American economy and, at times, the strength of our spirit as a people are measured by how much we spend on consumer goods. Both individually and collectively, we are defined not only by what we purchase, but by the act of shopping itself. How did we become a nation of citizen consumers? What drives consumer demand? Already in the late 19th century, middle-class values were shifting from thrift to indulgence, though we remained a producer nation for much of the 20th century. Nonetheless, the steady decline of manufacturing in the United States and the outsourcing of production in an increasingly globalized context have done little to cool our love affair with consumer goods. Using an interdisciplinary American Studies approach that explores the intersections of history, politics, material culture, gender and sexuality, class, race, religion, immigration and ethnicity, and the built environment, this course examines the nature and expansion of mass consumption, the democratization of desire, the meanings attached to consumer goods and the act of spending, the role of technology and advertising, and the impact of mass consumption upon the built environment. We will investigate consumption patterns over time among women, people of color, immigrants and their descendants, sexual minorities, and youth. Studies of consumption within ethnic communities, in particular, suggest the creation of transnational identities. As a result, we will also explore globalized consumer products and patterns. Finally, the course will look at the various kinds of controls to which American consumerism has been subjected.

Elective

Have you ever wondered how social situations guide how we think about and act toward others, what determines who we love and who we hate, how we form attitudes about our own and others behavior, what determines whether we will help or hurt others, or how we construct knowledge about the self? If so, social psychology addresses these questions and many more. Social psychology is the science of how others influence the way people think, feel, and act. The aim of this course is to familiarize you with current and classic research and theory in social psychology, help you to develop critical thinking skills about social-psychological phenomena, and stimulate you to think about the implications of social-psychological research for everyday living. For this course, students will complete readings from a textbook and articles. There be will be four quizzes and a final project applying one concept within social psychology to everyday life.

This course is being offered as a large format class, and will involve primarily lectures with small group lab projects during class time. Assessments will include quizzes, a midterm and final exam, as well as homework assignments related to the lab based projects.

Elective

Millions of people around the world have been forced from their homes by interlinked factors including persecution, armed conflict and war, natural disasters, structural violence, and development projects. The seminar explores the “refugee” and “migrant” status and examines the refugee crisis and forced migration in a global perspective and through an interdisciplinary lens. It provides a historical background of the formation of the “refugee” concept going back to inter-war Europe and placing emphasis both on its construction in international law and on the precarious state that refugees and migrants face today globally through various case studies. The seminar also addresses the politics of humanitarianism, the role of international organizations, especially UNHCR, and the securitization of human rights as well as the ethnic, gendered, and religious identities being reshaped by forced displacement. 

The course is organized both chronologically and thematically, to understand the ways in which global migration and contemporary refugee crises have changed over time, highlighting continuities and ruptures especially in the construction of the refugee and the migrant as the “other.” Lectures and readings provide a global perspective but focus on regional case studies, often using a comparative and transdisciplinary framework. Similarly, writing assignments, lectures, and class materials will draw upon international relations, anthropology, gender studies, sociology, and history, and examine different types of sources, including academic books and journal articles, first-person narratives, and visual resources.

Elective

Through lectures and close readings of secondary and primary sources, this course investigates political power and its relationship to freedom in the creation and development of the United States. In the first third of the class, topics of particular interest are: Indigenous cultures in America; early Spanish, French, and British colonialism; the settlement of British North America; unfree systems of labor; and comparative folkways among different regions. The second examines the American Revolution and the Constitutional debate, territorial expansion, and the spread of democracy, markets, and reform movements. The last features slavery and the sectional crisis, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and imperialism in Cuba and the Philippines.

Elective

As the study of behavior and mental processes, psychology allows us to better understand how people think, feel and act. This introductory course provides a broad overview of the major content areas within the field of psychology (e.g., physiological, developmental, social and cognitive psychology) and will introduce you to the psychological theories and research used to understand human behavior. We will cover a wide variety of topics, including how people learn, process and store information, why people possess distinct personalities, how social situations and cultural norms affect our behavior, how we grow and develop throughout our lives, etc. Throughout the course we will critically evaluate the merit of classic psychological theory and research in understanding people's thoughts, feelings and actions in real world situations. This course will provide a broad knowledge base for those interested in taking upper level psychology classes.

Elective

In this course, we will investigate two central questions: how are sounds shaped by place and power, and how are place and power ​​negotiated/reconstituted in and through sound? Building on the works of Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, this course will explore "soundscapes" as fecund sites of social and political inquiry. Through readings, recordings, and soundwalks, we will question how the soundscape functions both as a sonic place and as a way of making sense of that place. The course will include lectures, discussions, and short writing assignments. For the final project, students will analyze a soundscape of their choosing, paying specific attention to its structural components (keynote sounds, signals, soundmarks, etc.) as well as its social, political, and economic resonances.

Elective

Inventive Political Ecologies is a HPSS elective and NCSS core seminar. The course provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary field of Inventive Political Ecologies. This course will critically interrogate the many different proposals for inventive political ecologies that have emerged out of the critical social sciences, technology and engineering studies and the broad fields of design, planning and architecture. We will collectively discuss and debate what these inventive political ecologies might offer for addressing and acting on the environmental and climate crisis. We will consider ways in which discussion of “invention” and “innovation” can both open up and sometimes narrow eco-political and environmental discussions. Finally, we will continually consider which inventive political ecologies might help us move towards designing and building more just post-carbon futures.

Graduate students register for GRAD 702G - INVENTIVE POLITICAL ECOLOGIES.

Elective

Evil has long been a topic of study for theologians and philosophers, but has only recently been studied by psychologists. Although evil is an inherently subjective topic, we will attempt to take an objective, scientific approach to understanding why people engage in evil behavior. Thus, we will begin by attempting to suspend the notion that we can divide the world into good and evil, and instead understand the situational and psychological factors that could lead anyone to harm others. Specifically, we will focus on classic psychological studies that show how everyday people can be led to act in deplorable ways by manipulating the situational circumstances. We will also discuss how inter-group processes can lead to conflict and large scale acts of violence like war and genocide. Finally, we will study the nature of the psychopathic personality in order to better understand those individuals who feel no guilt or remorse for harming others (e.g., brutal dictators and serial killers). This is a very interactive class and will require you to contribute in discussion and prepare an in-depth presentation on an area of your own interest related to the psychology of evil.HPSS-S101 is a prerequisite for undergraduates.

Designers and architects are constantly making objects, systems, services, infrastructures but they are also involved in dream making, desire shaping and negotiating power relations. The aim of this class is to introduce students in an accessible way to the wide-ranging insights that a sociology of design and architecture offers for understanding and evaluating the contours of our current designed economies and possible future designed worlds. We will explore design and architecture as forms of classed, raced and gendered labor and look at the tensions that have long existed between professional designers and publics. We will consider the ways in which the mainstream design industry is shaped by and a shaper of politics and culture and consider how it is embedded within and maintains markets, fossil capitalism, consumer culture and colonialism. We will appraise what sociologists and design theorists have to say about possible future design economies and societies based on digital surveillance, automation/robotics, and bio/geo-engineering. Finally, we will critically examine at a range of critical design social movements: from design justice to decolonial designers, feminist designers to designs for decarbonization and sustainable transitions which argue more just and ecological design worlds are still possible. 

Elective

Designers and architects are constantly making objects, systems, services, infrastructures but they are also involved in dream making, desire shaping and negotiating power relations. The aim of this class is to introduce students in an accessible way to the wide-ranging insights that a sociology of design and architecture offers for understanding and evaluating the contours of our current designed economies and possible future designed worlds. We will explore design and architecture as forms of classed, raced and gendered labor and look at the tensions that have long existed between professional designers and publics. We will consider the ways in which the mainstream design industry is shaped by and a shaper of politics and culture and consider how it is embedded within and maintains markets, fossil capitalism, consumer culture and colonialism. We will appraise what sociologists and design theorists have to say about possible future design economies and societies based on digital surveillance, automation/robotics, and bio/geo-engineering. Finally, we will critically examine at a range of critical design social movements: from design justice to decolonial designers, feminist designers to designs for decarbonization and sustainable transitions which argue more just and ecological design worlds are still possible. 

Elective

Since 2009, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and the National Park Service (NPS) have worked to develop a collaborative model for teaching and learning centered on witness trees: long-standing trees that have borne witness to the histories of the places where they have stood. The Project arranges for a fallen witness tree to be shipped from a national historic site to RISD, where, in a joint history seminar and design studio, students interpret the history the tree witnessed and make relevant objects from the tree's wood. In addition to classroom study, the Project variously involves field trips, guest lectures, workshops, demonstrations, and exhibitions of students' objects. Students from all disciplines are welcome.

This iteration of the Witness Tree Project will focus on a 19th-century state-champion Norway Spruce from Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park in Woodstock, Vermont. The seminar will explore the world of its planter, Frederick Billings (1823-1890), who, as a Gold Rush lawyer, transcontinental railroad president, farmer, and pioneering conservationist, embodied the complex relationships Americans had with nature during a fervent era of expanded settler colonialism and land acquisition. In the studio, students will work with the wood harvested from the Norway Spruce to explore craft and building traditions indicative of this time, such as timber framing and hewing. Students will practice these techniques, and critically make, as a means of understanding and reflecting upon these histories.

This is a co-requisite course. Enrollment includes both FD 2451 and HPSS S732. Students will receive 3 studio/non-major studio elective credits and 3 Liberal Arts elective credits, for a total of 6 credits.

This course is open to junior, senior, fifth-year, and graduate students. Contact the instructor for permission to register.

Elective

“Singapore is known as a nation of food lovers and where eating is a national pastime.” - Vineetha Sinha PhD, sociologist, editor of Food, Foodways, and Foodscapes.

This travel course explores Singapore through its kitchens, hawker centers, and streets, where South East Asian and colonial traditions have mixed for centuries to create a vibrant culinary identity. From kampongs to skyscrapers, food has remained the thread connecting past and present. Students will taste everything from Michelin-starred street food to local dishes like chilli crab, laksa, and roti prata, while meeting the master cooks who sustain Singapore’s UNESCO-recognized hawker culture.

Students will use cuisine to explore ideas of craft, creativity, iteration, cultural identity, and technology. Site visits will range from hawkers who have perfected one dish over generations to large-scale manufacturers exporting noodles and delicious treats worldwide, highlighting the tension between tradition and innovation. Investigations into creative processes—through contemporary makers and modern mechanization—will connect culinary practice to broader design questions. Using mixed media, students will develop recipes for making, articulating the relationship between people, stories, and their craft.

Registration is not available in Workday. All students are required to remain in good academic standing in order to participate in the Wintersession travel course/studio. A minimum GPA of 2.50 is required. Failure to remain in good academic standing can lead to removal from the course, either before or during the course. Also in cases where Wintersession travel courses and studios do not reach student capacity, the course may be cancelled after the last day of Wintersession travel course registration. As such, all students are advised not to purchase flights for participation in Wintersession travel courses until the course is confirmed to run, which happens within the week after the final Wintersession travel course registration period.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $150.00

This course introduces mold-making as both a technical skill set and a generative design tool. The course encourages experimentation, positioning mold-making as a tool for thinking, making, and transforming ideas into physical form. Through a series of projects, readings, and discussions, students will learn how casting can be used to shift meaning, perception, and use through strategies involving material choice, form, and engagement with existing objects. Using hands-on making as a form of inquiry, students will complete a series of short, practical exercises following in-class demonstrations. Designed for students with no prior mold-making experience, these exercises introduce techniques such as thermoforming, open-faced and multi-part plaster molds, and flexible molds using materials like silicone and alginate. Students will learn proper mold preparation, construction, and casting methods while also engaging with the limitations and unpredictability of each process. Course assignments include sampling textures and patterns from found objects, both natural and manufactured, and transferring them onto new objects and contexts; casting a single mold with varied materials to explore how material qualities affect visual outcomes and potential applications; and a final “remodelling” project that re-envisions an object or form through the assembly of cast and non-cast elements, 3D manipulation, or mold intervention. Throughout, the course supports the development of both technical skills and conceptual approaches, encouraging students to adapt processes in ways that respond to their individual interests and integrate mold-making into their own studio practices.

Estimated Cost of Materials: $75.00

Elective

The ability to conceive and prepare for different future(s) is a vital human capability. Designers are frequently commissioned by multinational corporations, government agencies and cultural institutions for foresight and strategy work. But in times of uncertainty we all have to be futurists. This special topic studio will introduce students to the tools and techniques of foresight practice and discursive design. We will also examine afro-futurism, decolonised futures and participatory design to see how these practices are being used by communities and cultures rarely supported in futures practices. Students will finish the semester with designed objects and written products that support more resilient futures thinking.

If you have questions about the studio, please do not hesitate to contact Charlie Cannon via email. cccannon@risd.edu.

This studio is a Reassembling Industrial Design (REID) Special Topic Studio, which meets the graduation requirement for an SEI tagged class.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

Thousands of years ago, in the highlands of Peru, indigenous farmers developed an amazing plant that provided high protein yet needed very little energy to cook – it was the nuña, a bean that pops like popcorn! Now, thousands of years later, those same qualities could provide global environmental and health benefits, both reducing our fossil fuel use and our consumption of animal protein. But how can we encourage people to eat these amazing little beans?

In this studio, we will explore that very question, using human-centered design research and iterative experimentation to respectfully build on this ancient indigenous technology. Part foodways research, part food design, we will examine the challenge from top to bottom using seeds developed by the USDA to grow in non-equatorial climates. We will do everything from experimenting with how to prepare the beans to designing research-based deployment strategies and packaging, using design to help lower the barriers to environmentally-sound healthy nutrition.

If you love hands-on experimentation, are interested in design for social good and want to learn more about qualitative design research, this is the course for you!

This studio is a Reassembling Industrial Design (REID) Special Topic Studio, which meets the graduation requirement for an SEI tagged class.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

Mainstream games, such as Monopoly and Settlers of Catan, normalize extractive behavior, othering stereotypes, and bitter competition between players. Meanwhile, tools used in “community engagement” and “participatory design” in architecture, design, and planning fields create illusions of choice and public approval by gamifying public processes. This studio asks, how can games encourage alternative relationships and interactions between players, and be a medium through which folks of all ages can practice care, collaboration, and learning at the grassroots level?

After examining our positionalities and analyzing existing board games, students will work in teams to develop their own semi-cooperative board games. The game development process will be introduced in stages as students critically discuss how design can both help and/or harm people alongside reflections about relevant personal, social, and political perspectives. The work will include concept sketches, worldbuilding stories, rulebooks, zines, physical crafted prototypes and components, and student-organized playtesting sessions. The primary challenges for students in this studio lie in discovering how to align design decisions with core values and goals, how to source materials ethically, and how their game can be played and produced in community - all while ensuring the game is replayable and fun!

This studio is a Reassembling Industrial Design (REID) Special Topic Studio, which meets the graduation requirement for an SEI tagged class.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

Have we considered what it truly means to critique? This course explores the role of critique, dissects real-life cases, and challenges existing methodologies to foster more just and equitable ways to look at design.

Well closely examine how professionals, clients, and stakeholders present and evaluate design work to critically reflect on methods within ID and further consider how ethical and inclusive practices take place in the field of industrial design. Students will actively engage in research workshops, role-playing, and discussions to reshape their understanding of design and critique.

By the conclusion of the studio, students will have designed tools and models for public and private critique. Through this, students will be equipped with enriched perspectives and a comprehensive toolkit of critique and discussion methodologies that are continuously applicable in future practices.

This studio is a Reassembling Industrial Design (REID) Special Topic Studio, which meets the graduation requirement for an SEI tagged class.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

Industrial design’s authorized histories are often produced through designed infrastructures such as museums, textbooks, libraries, corporate archives, websites, and interfaces. These systems do not simply store history; they shape it by determining what is preserved, how it is classified, who is credited, and what becomes accessible.

In this studio, students will design and build a living counter-archive using core industrial design methods including but not limited to systems mapping, prototyping, model-making, interface design, and publication. Projects may take the form of installations, portable kits, shelving or display systems, tool libraries, publications, websites, series of objects, or hybrid platforms. Each project will propose alternative ways of knowing, crediting, and sharing design histories.

The course centers BIPOC designers, makers, and communities, and foregrounds practices often absent from mainstream narratives, including repair cultures, collective authorship, maintenance, hidden labor, and vernacular engineering. Students will examine how design structures can reinforce or challenge inequity and explore strategies for more inclusive and accessible knowledge systems.

Through hands-on exercises, case studies, critiques, and iterative prototyping, students will develop a functioning archive. The studio moves between archive, exhibition, object, and interface design, culminating in a designed counter-archive that expands how industrial design knowledge is represented and shared.

This studio is a Reassembling Industrial Design (REID) Special Topic Studio, which meets the graduation requirement for an SEI tagged class.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design

This course examines Chinese Ming dynasty furniture as a system of material intelligence that challenges dominant Western industrial design paradigms. Through the study of Chinese woodworking traditions, students engage with alternative ways of making, learning, and knowing—rooted in handcraft, material sensitivity, and structural logic. Using primarily hand tools, the studio emphasizes making and drawing as methods to understand joinery and structure as generative design frameworks.

In contrast to dominant narratives of design innovation, Chinese furniture demonstrates a continuity of form across time, where transformation occurs through subtle variations, adaptations, and cultural layering rather than radical formal reinvention. This course frames such continuity as a critical alternative to prevailing notions of progress and authorship.

Students will also investigate questions of knowledge production, cultural visibility, and the conditions under which certain design histories become legible or overlooked.

Hands-on making is approached as an embodied method of inquiry rather than technical mastery. Students will produce a series of studies, including joinery prototypes, material investigations, and analytical drawings, leading to the final project. Outcomes may take the form of furniture or spatial/system-based proposals that reinterpret these principles in a contemporary context, articulating a clear design position grounded in structure, material logic, and cultural understanding.

This studio is a Reassembling Industrial Design (REID) Special Topic Studio, which meets the graduation requirement for an SEI tagged class.

Major Requirement | BFA Industrial Design