Onboarding Project

This course introduces and makes use of digital tools (audio and video) to research and record an immersive engagement with the city of Beijing. This semester the course focuses on stories of migrants in Beijing, especially stories of the lower class. The preservation and adaptation of migrants raise many issues that are central to contemporary Beijing: social mobility, inequality and urbanization. Through field trips and the eyes of fiction writers, learners will carry out evidence-based discussions and have a chance to create their interaction and observation interview documentary (around 5 mins).

Where did you come from and where will you go? Has your family always lived in your current city? Where do you want to study and work in the future? Since the beginning of time, human migration has never stopped. With the rapid development of globalization and technology, it is becoming easier for people to move, and the moving population is becoming more and more diverse. Some people move actively for education and work, while others are brought to a new environment passively or even illegally. Does migration really lead to a better life? How does your background affect the process? On the other hand, what does the migration of people mean to the society? Some government open their doors to attract immigrants from all over the world while others want to "build a wall" at the border. In this class, we will combine sociological, human geography, and demographic perspectives to understand why people migrate and how their lives change after they do so.

Do you know your family or the stories of their youth?

Family is part of our life as well as one's genes that shape our destiny into different people. To better understand ourselves, you'd better get to know your family well, otherwise they may become the most familiar strangers to you. They come from memories whose lives are worth recording to be a book.

In the future, artificial intelligence may replace a lot, but memories can not. Just listen to their stories. Only by understanding the past can we better face the future and understand the relationship with our ancestors.

You will re-enter your home as a journalist and artist, experience the entirely process of an artbook, learn about interviewing, writing, oral history, photography, and book binding design. Through tracing family stories, you will gain a deeper understanding of modern Chinese history and ultimately complete a "family memoirs" to ensure the sustainable development of our civilization and preserve the roots of this cultural memory.

We believe that in such uncertain times, family memories are worth most.

Do you want to make an ice-cream in such a short time by yourself? Do you know how to test whether one kind of water is up to standard? Have you ever thought of developing one apparatus that can filter water by yourself? The Water World course can be the best candidate to help you to realize these ideas.

This is an introductory course that provides an overview of chemistry through water and its application to real life. It encourages curiosity and improves the skills for scientific discovery. This course lays the foundation for further studies in chemistry, material science, life sciences, and environmental sciences. The course contains five performance assessments (PAs): DIY ice cream, DIY water test box, wastewater filtration and DIY distilled water. Through the 4 PAs, learners can know the basics of scientific investigation and chemical experiments, properties and applications of substances, composition and structure of substances, chemical changes of substances, chemistry and society, and interdisciplinary practices.

By studying the Water World course, you can systematically master all the knowledge of elementary chemistry and directly enter the study of intermediate chemistry.

Are you excited about the new Makerspace on our campus?

If the answer is yes, you should be joining this course.

This course is a collaborative project-based course that aims to add on some fundamental space functions & necessary facilities for our Makerspace, such as separating the space into collaborative and solo design areas; hand-making storage cabinets or facilities, and making furniture that facilitates making.

Projects will be a large part of the course and will require a portfolio done by the team and individual. Learners will work in collaborative teams to learn the basic safety rules and skills of using engineering tools and machinery; concepts/theories of each discipline; and will be exposed to a wide range of hands-on learning of mechanics and engineering, and design techniques. Learners will have the opportunity to work hands-on in their groups to build and create furniture or facilities needed in the Makerspace and learn to use digital devices to record the creating progress. Learners will also adopt the previous MSA Makerspace general rules and build on the new legacy of Makerspace culture.

Projects will require learners to adopt EDP (Engineering Design Process ) to complete needs analysis, design, manufacture, optimize and eventually meet the users' needs in Makerspace. During this process, learners will learn to use industrial-level tools such as 2D drawing software, 3D Modeling software, 3D printer, laser cutting, CNC, etc., to complete the project.