people working on a collaborative project at a table at the design futures forum

ACADEMICS

Social Innovation and Design Thinking

We provide students with interdisciplinary skills to create a more just and equitable society by introducing students to social innovation, human-centered design, and social impact leadership.

Building upon Tulane University’s strengths in civic engagement and service learning, the Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (SISE) program provides students with skills to create a more just and equitable society. The program is comprised of the SISE Minor and Taylor Your Life course. 

The five main courses in the SISE minor introduces students to concepts of social innovation, mindsets of human-centered design, and frameworks for social impact leadership. SISE also offers Taylor Your Life, a career development lab that teaches students how to approach their future with the mindset and toolkit of a designer. Learn more at taylor.tulane.edu/activities/taylor-your-life

The SISE program is supported by a variety of programming offered at the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking. Students wishing to declare the SISE minor and/or enroll in the Taylor Your Life course can consult the SISE Director Edson Cabalfin.

SISE Minor

Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (SISE) is an interdisciplinary minor for undergraduate students from across the campus. The SISE minor provides students with skills to create a more just and equitable society. SISE courses introduce students to concepts of social innovation, mindsets of human-centered design, and frameworks for social impact leadership. Students in the minor develop an understanding of complex problems while developing a toolkit to create positive social and environmental change.

A minor in SISE consists of six courses for a total of 15 credit hours. SISE 2010 is a pre-requisite for all other classes and includes a mandatory 20-hour service-learning component.

The SISE Minor has been developed in partnership with the Phyllis M. Taylor Center for Social Innovation and Design Thinking. SISE students are encouraged to utilize opportunities and resources provided through the Taylor Center, and many SISE courses are located at the Taylor Center in Howard-Tilton Memorial Library Room 406. Students wishing to declare the SISE minor can consult the SISE Director Edson Cabalfin.

Suggested Plan of Study (PDFtext). 

Graduate Certificate in Public Interest Design

The Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (SISE) program, in collaboration with the Architecture and Historic Preservation programs, is launching a new graduate certificate in Public Interest Design in Fall 2023. The program is designed to educate the next generation of practitioners in the field of public interest design, or the design for the benefit of the broader public good, especially for those in historically disadvantaged and marginalized communities. Students working toward a Master of Architecture and/or a Master of Science in Historic Preservation students can add this certificate to their degrees.

Students wishing to earn the certificate can consult the SISE Director Edson Cabalfin. More information coming soon!

Suggested Plan of Study (PDF, TXT)

CONTACT THE DIRECTOR

Headshot of Edson Cabalfin

Edson Cabalfin

Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, Director of the SISE Program, Professor of Practice