Integrated Design, Engineering, Arts & Society Minor
Department website: http://www.wesleyan.edu/ideas/
Minor Description
The Minor in Integrated Design, Engineering, Arts & Society (IDEAS) prepares students to succeed at the intersection of design, the arts, and engineering in a liberal arts context. Students develop foundational knowledge in these areas by working in collaborative groups and individually on project-based assignments that emphasize making and doing as critical forms of knowledge. A minor in IDEAS requires seven credits and assembly of a portfolio encompassing work developed within IDEAS courses. Three core courses provide a foundation in the technical, aesthetic, and human dimensions of design and engineering. These courses are followed by a focus in one of many concentrations that span design and engineering disciplines.
Admission to the Minor
Students should complete at least one course from the required core courses to be admitted to the IDEAS minor. Declare the IDEAS minor through your WesPortal.
Minor Requirements
A minor in IDEAS requires seven credits. Comprising three courses, the IDEAS minor core is designed to introduce students to hands-on project-based studio, laboratory, and critical coursework in design and engineering. The remaining four elective courses come from course concentrations. Some courses offered on an irregular basis are not listed in concentrations, but may be used for electives subject to approval from the minor advisor.
Student Portfolio
Historically speaking, the term portfolio describes a portable object for carrying papers, artwork, maps, etc., subsequently expanded to include both the object and its contents. For the purposes of the IDEAS Portfolio requirement, the portable object is a website. The contents are an individual student’s projects, produced in their IDEAS courses. At a minimum, a Portfolio should include the best work a student has produced from at least three (3) IDEAS courses. Presented using images and text, the projects included should encompass both completed and process work. The Portfolio is also a project. The design and presentation of the Portfolio comprise a personal statement about its author, their training, interests, and ambitions.
Required Core Courses
Students must complete one course from each group below.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| One Engineering Foundations Lab | 1 | |
| Introduction to Mechanical Design and Engineering | ||
| Introduction to Electrical Design & Engineering | ||
| One Introductory Design Studio | 1 | |
| Digital Foundations | ||
| Ecological Design I: Being at Home in the World | ||
| A Thousand Years of Iteration: Design for an Uncertain Future | ||
| Architecture I | ||
| Fast & Furious | ||
| Introduction to Graphic Design | ||
| Fundamentals of Design I | ||
| Designing With Living Systems: Soft + Hairy | ||
| Form and Code | ||
| Text & Visual Imagination: Introduction to Eco Design for Performance | ||
| One Design & Technology Seminar | 1 | |
| Introduction to Archaeological Science: Natural Science Approaches to the Human Past | ||
| Experimental Archaeology: Material Science and Past Behaviors | ||
| Activism and Theories of Change | ||
| Media and Environment: In/Sensible Worlds | ||
| Design Studies | ||
| Or another approved social science course | ||
Elective courses from Concentrations:
The concentrations provide topical focus in the wide array of areas in Design, Engineering, Arts & Society. The IDEAS concentrations consist of four courses above the three required courses, to make the total of seven courses in the minor.
Some of the proposed concentrations include courses listed among those that will satisfy the gateway course distribution requirement listed above. Students will work with an advisor to help them achieve the appropriate depth of study in the concentration. Related courses that are not offered on a regular basis or course substitutions may be considered for minor credit, subject to review by the minor advisor. Typically, introductory (100-level) courses may not be counted toward the elective requirement.
The IDEAS Minor Concentrations and requirements are available on the CoDES website.
Additional Minor Information
- There may be prerequisite courses required for some of the courses listed above. These prerequisites do not count towards the minor.
- Some of the courses may be cross-listed with other departments; students can enroll in any listing for the specified course.
- Students may propose a different combination of elective courses in consultation with the IDEAS advisor.
- Some courses may overlap with existing major requirements. A student may only count three course credits toward the IDEAS minor that are also counted towards a major, linked major, certificate, or other minor, unless receiving explicit approval from the IDEAS minor administrator to waive this requirement.