Our students and community partners have a few important things to say about this class…
Selected quotes from students:
“We as engineers have knowledge and skills to deal with some of the most crucial problems in this country, even the world, yet what defines us is not how much we are capable of achieving, but what we do for our fellow citizens and our nation.”
“The cross-major project or team is very rare at Washington University, yet this course provides a very precious opportunity for us to do so…I learned that engineers in different fields tend to have very different approaches for the same problem.”
Taking this course is honestly the best decision you can make. You get to work on a real-life project for a real client on your own time throughout the semester. It is just a great experience unlike anything else you will do during college.”
“Being able to work with an organization we connected to for a full semester, and truly help them, was awesome!”
“[This course] has helped me understand complex problems outside of the WashU community that are affecting the greater St. Louis community. I feel better equipped to have tough conversations and be respectful to a diverse group of folks.”
“Being able to actually work on the project itself was also really exciting. It was one of my first experiences in college where information was not fed to me.”
Deeper reflections from students:
“Just a year ago, I was struggling to figure out if continuing to study Biomedical Engineering, let alone Engineering in general, was right for me. I wasn’t seeing how in my daily life of math, science, and problem sets how I could really tackle issues that I care about: empowerment, educational equity, community engagement. I didn’t see too many examples of my peers breaking the square-boxed fence called the Engineering School to tackle such issues, so I thought maybe I should switch to another school so I can prepare a different way. I’m glad I decided to stay with the school and that I could be a part of this pilot course. I witnessed the power of storytelling and the strength critical thinkers have and how these skillsets can be applied to pressing needs……For me, being hands-on and engaging in groups/teams is a bonus for a course that tackles human-centered issues. Somehow, within the short five immersion days of class, I found a renewed inspiration to seek out opportunities to not mold to the world around me, but to force it to adapt to the needs our communities face.”
I think an immersion class such as this one should be a requirement for all undergraduates; it is too easy to get caught up in the classroom and extracurricular activities and whatnot here, desensitizing you to the outside world. It’s one thing to be book smart, but if you can’t effectively engage with people outside of school or of another race or socioeconomic class, then you haven’t really developed as you should in college. College is a time when you should be forced outside of your comfort zone and challenge yourself, both intellectually/psychologically and socially. This course definitely did all these things for me. Without the immersive part of the course, I think I would’ve become too detached from the material and it wouldn’t have had the same impact on me; however, taking the class in Ferguson and traveling throughout the community allowed me to truly delve into the ideas discussed throughout the week and apply them to my life, challenging my thoughts and engaging me in a way that I had never been engaged before.”
“While I have participated in volunteering programs through the school, this course exposed me to the ugly truths about the region’s racial past that I would not have learned, otherwise. The fact that a course like this is offered in the engineering school is something that more students should take advantage of. While I have learned about racism and inequity through text, being able to place myself, physically, in these areas has broadened my exposure to these topics in a way that has changed how I think about making effective change within my community. While I will be graduating in just a few weeks, my work with these issues will not stop once I leave WashU. I will carry the lessons that I have learned in this course to be an advocate for social change, and trailblaze a path for racial and gender equity for future generations.”
“As an engineer, I could one day be making decisions that have an impact on many different groups of people and it is important that I am able to advocate for the people who might be negatively impacted by these decisions. As I hope to go into the medical device field, I am entering a health care system that is deeply rooted in racism and inequality. I must be aware of whether the decisions I am making further these problems or help solve them and do my diligence to provide better care for all people as well as provide solutions to fix the prejudice that currently exists. Overall, I hope to continue to be able to apply the information and values I have learned in this course throughout my life. I hope that I can continuously make an effort to understand the inequalities that exist and support causes and programs that can lead to change. Most importantly, I hope that I can live my life in a way that has a positive impact on the people in my community that often go unseen so that I can be a part of the solutions rather than the problem.”