亚洲AV

Engineering, Carter School students give peace a chance

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Incoming college students are increasingly concerned with social justice, conflict resolution, and sustainability. These are byproducts of being raised in an interconnected, interdisciplinary world, where they鈥檝e been taught to consider the downstream consequences of their actions and decisions.

Engineers for International Development 2023
Engineering students like the Engineers for International Development group pictured here on a clean drinking water project in Ecuador served as inspiration for the new minor. Photo provided

In response, the 亚洲AV (CEC) and Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution are now collaborating on a . The minor鈥檚 germination comes from numerous places but was pushed forward initially by Liza Wilson Durant, CEC鈥檚 associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement, and Alpaslan 脰zerdem, dean of the Carter School.

"I advised students in Mason鈥檚 Engineers for International Development chapter on developing engineered solutions to community problems in remote lands in Central America,鈥 said Durant. 鈥淭he engagement with community members and the work to understand the needs of a vast number of community stakeholders was as important as the final engineered solution. It occurred to me that we could bring that kind of understanding听to the classroom for more engineering students through collaboration with the Carter School.鈥

Jane Walker, director of undergraduate student services for the Carter School, said the minor is ideal for students of both colleges. 鈥淭he engineering students will better understand culture, people, and the complexity of their interactions, and Carter School students will better understand systems thinking and engineering design. Understanding design process helps with problem solving.鈥

Walker noted that their students have shown interest in adding to their expertise in conflict analysis with skills in project management and technical considerations, which they could get from classes that make up this minor.

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Durant was inspired watching students tackle problems in Central America.

According to the university website, the minor 鈥渂rings together expertise in systems-level science, engineering principles, and conflict resolution practice to support conditions for peace. It prepares students to engage in projects with conflict sensitivity and to understand the engineering technologies and approaches impacting human systems.鈥

鈥淲hen I pursued my civil engineering degree in Istanbul during the late 1980s, our curriculum offered limited engagement with socio-economic and cultural issues,鈥 said 脰zerdem. 鈥淎lthough we had the opportunity to select a few electives that touched upon these topics, the primary focus remained on the technical and structural aspects of civil engineering.鈥

Rajesh Ganesan, an associate professor in the Systems Engineering and Operations Research Department, explained how systems engineering approaches are useful. 鈥淎s we look at conflict on the whole from a global perspective, and think of all the huge factors that play a role in any crisis, we want to incorporate systems thinking into conflict analysis," he said. "It鈥檚 important for our students to have those systems thinking approaches.鈥

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脰zerdem, an engineer by training, wants students to develop holistic approaches to problems.

脰zerdem said, 鈥淭he disciplinary focus has evolved from a narrow technical lens to a more holistic approach that embraces flexibility and interdisciplinary learning. This shift has been a response to the growing recognition that the challenges we face today鈥攔anging from climate change and urbanization to social equity and global peace鈥攃annot be adequately addressed by any single discipline alone.鈥

Ganesan added that increasingly students are asking for courses related to things like climate change, global conflicts, energy sustainability, and more. He said, 鈥淭hese words were nonexistent previously. If you had asked me six or seven years ago, nobody spoke about these things, but now the students are asking for them, and we have other pushes, like from the Dean鈥檚 Advisory Board.鈥澨 He said the advisory board, students, and alumni are the key sources of feedback on curriculum change.

For students looking to graduate on time, the minor only requires 15 more credits, of which eight are unique.听 A student may complete the minor by adding three classes and no more semesters.听

脰zerdem has a strong vision for the minor. 鈥淚n the coming years, we hope to see it become a flagship program attracting a diverse and dynamic cohort of students from across the university,鈥 he said.听 鈥淥ur goal is to build a robust and supportive learning environment where students from different disciplines can collaborate and learn from one another, fostering a culture of innovation and interdisciplinary excellence.鈥