Introduction
Do you want to contribute to societal change? Do you see issues around you that you think could be improved or solved? Are you creative and entrepreneurial? Are you looking to work with like-minded people? Paris College of Art joins forces with MakeSense in this one-year Master’s program (MA) in Design for Social Impact that equips citizen designers with the critical thinking (ethics, research methods), practical (design thinking, entrepreneurship, prototyping), and soft (governance, leadership, networking) skills to successfully lead design projects that will bring positive societal changes. The guiding question for this program is:
How can design change the world?
Students work with faculty and partner organizations to research and design a solution to a societal problem that they have identified. Each student develops an individual project to research and prototype a solution for. Students have worked on issues as varied as plastic recycling in the home, refugee integration through sports, promoting ethical consumer choices, reducing food waste, designing inclusive clothing, promoting slow fashion, or developing curricula to raise awareness of mental health.
In the first semester, students develop problem-solving skills (design thinking, social entrepreneurship, ethical reasoning, leadership, prototyping) and research the issue that they have identified, and in the second semester, they will develop a design solution that can be tested and implemented.
The MA in Design for Social Impact draws from the expertise of international faculty members and the network of the MakeSense community of social entrepreneurs.
About MakeSense
MakeSense is an international organization bringing together 2,000 social entrepreneurs with 30,000 volunteers from over 100 cities in 70 countries. By putting together volunteers’ skills and ideas, MakeSense’s aim is to help social entrepreneurs create and develop their businesses and solve the most pressing issues faced by society in such areas as education, health, environment, food, etc. SenseCampus is the educational arm of MakeSense, offering dedicated pedagogical programs to get students to achieve the 17 sustainable development goals defined by the UN. Founded in 2012, it counts over 4,000 alumni and 20 academic partners, including the highest-ranked business schools in France.
MA Curriculum
MA One-Year Program
Prototyping
Introduction to Research & Methodology
Design Thinking
Social Entrepreneurship Project
Designer's Social and Ethical Responsability
Personal Meadership Skills Development
Design Studio
Organizational Governance
Professional Networking Series
Final Individual Project
MA Thesis
Masters Electives
French
Drawing Technology and Perception
Advanced Printmaking*
Intellectual Property Rights
Concepts Development Storytelling
Photography as Installation*
Photography in the Expanded Field*
History of New Media*
Designer's Ethical and Social Responsibility
Educational Principles
Alternative Processes Image-Making*
Digital Fabrication Design
The Art of Code I & II
4D Studio I & II*
The Fashion Editorial
Design Thinking
Social Entrepreneurship
Project Management*
*Undergraduate level courses
