Student Experiences
First-Year Students Address Grand Challenges
Students in “Grand Challenge: Equity and Environment” view a map during a field trip to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.
As Dietrich College undergraduates embark on their academic journey, each takes a Grand Challenge Seminar designed to introduce them to explore complex, global problems from multiple viewpoints. Interdisciplinary teams of experts from across the university co-teach each course, which help students to build critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills. Grand Challenge Seminars in 2024 explored themes including the environment, race and identity in America, public trust — and mistrust — in research, and science and science fiction.
“ Being able to hear from [guest lecturers] who do the sort of work which we learn about in seminar feels more practical and impactful than just reading about it in a textbook. I also really liked the field trip to Phipps [Conservatory and Botanical Gardens] to think about the systems we interact with daily. It was a valuable experience and makes what we learn about feel real and less abstract. ” — F irst-year student Colin Tran, who completed “Equity and the
Environment: Exploring Global Challenges and Local Solutions.”
Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences | Carnegie Mellon University 4
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