Project

Real-world projects creating positive impacts for self, others, communities, and the planet.

Annually, numerous interdisciplinary projects emerge with the mission of contributing to a better world.These projects span multiple disciplines and areas such as biosciences, urban planning, innovative media, physics, and mathematics. Within them, we are engineers, designers, architects, scientists, thinkers, and visionaries for the future. We expect these projects could inspire learners in creating impactful work, prompting them to consider their place in the broader context of the world and the progression of human civilization.

Creative & ExpressionD.R.E.A.MOnboarding Project

Family Memoirs: Recording the individual stories of ordinary families in the big time

Disciplines/Subjects: History, Chinese, Media, Design Key Themes: Nonfiction Writing, Modern Chinese History, Microhistory “What can a small individual or a small family tell us? How much can it aid our understanding of Chinese history? We believe that the experiences of ordinary people can reflect the changes of an entire era, and we can genuinely feel the turning points of significant times through the vivid, detailed small histories. Without a micro perspective, our history would be unbalanced and incomplete.”—History does not float in the air; it is all around us, in the daily meals and routines of every family. Each family is a book, and if we can salvage and collect these memories, they too can be the magnificent voice of the times. In this project, learners explore modern Chinese history by tracing family stories and ultimately complete a “family memoir.” The project integrates multiple disciplines such as history, language arts, media, and design, aiming to document the individual stories of ordinary families against the backdrop of significant historical periods.
EducationIncubator Track

STEM for Girls

Disciplines/Subjects: sociology, education,design thinkings Key Themes: girls,gender equality, STEM/Math,pedagogy, learning interest The Incubator Track in MSA is a year-long, interdisciplinary program that empowers students to develop and launch social impact projects. Students will first define and understand a social problem, and then initiate an action to promote changes around that problem. Along with a variety of social science research and problem-solving methods, learners will also enhance their project management, leadership, and communication skills. The problem we want to solve is that middle school girls cannot maintain their interest in math through school courses. We have done several surveys, which include 50 students and 10 teachers to investigate high school students and middle school students about whether they are good at math or not and their score of interest towards math on a scale of 1-10. Girls have shown a distinct interest in math in middle school and the interest score of math for middle school girls is slightly higher than high school girls, which indicates that girls can not persist in interest in math. The reasons behind this question, include multiple factors, such as parents, teachers, grades, and environment. Our goal is to design a complete action that is effective for middle school girls to maintain their interest in math. The action would be developed based on the interests and hobbies of middle school girls. Our action design will be based on one of the factors that will affect the interest we find.
EducationPolitics and SocietyIncubator Track

Sustainable lifestyle for youth

Disciplines/Subjects: sociology, environmental studies, design thinkings Key Themes: teenager, sustainable lifestyle, citywalk The Incubator Track in MSA is a year-long, interdisciplinary program that empowers students to develop and launch social impact projects. Students will first define and understand a social problem, and then initiate an action to promote changes around that problem. Along with a variety of social science research and problem-solving methods, learners will also enhance their project management, leadership, and communication skills. People’s exploits of natural resources and destruction of the environment are causing drastic climate change. However climate change sounds like such a big problem, and individuals can hardly relate to it (Markman, 2018). Specific and personal changes need to be made by individuals to combat climate change. Discover the power of sustainable lifestyles with me. I’m dedicated to inspiring and supporting teenagers in embracing eco-friendly choices every day. Let’s team up to build a greener, more sustainable world for everyone.
EducationPolitics and SocietyMental HealthIncubator Track

Entering the world of elderly

Disciplines/Subjects: sociology, design thinkings Key Themes: elderly, teenager, empathy The Incubator Track in MSA is a year-long, interdisciplinary program that empowers students to develop and launch social impact projects. Students will first define and understand a social problem, and then initiate an action to promote changes around that problem. Along with a variety of social science research and problem-solving methods, learners will also enhance their project management, leadership, and communication skills. The rapidly developing technology is convenient for citizens’ lives, but trouble has been brought to the elderly at the same time. Due to their dissatisfaction with social and emotional needs, the elderly suffer from loneliness and a series of severe consequences brought by loneliness. Loneliness may cause a variety of dangers that can threaten the health of the elderly. We discovered that providing support for the elderly to express and communicate with others reduces their sense of loneliness. We decided to aim at reducing the loneliness of the elderly by building a connection between them.
SustainabilityIncubator Track

SDG community challenge

Disciplines/Subjects: Social Sciences,design thinking Key Themes: Sustainability, Marginalized Groups, Community Action Have you ever heard about sustainable development or Sustainble Development Goals? Why are they important? Are they close/relevant to our lives? When more government, organizations, businesses, schools are adpoting SDG in their own daily operation, shall we and can we get more MSAers on board? Your goal in this comprehensive project is to develop a SDG-related campaign to raise community' members's awareness about your chosen topic. This year, we have a specific focus on the interplay of environmental and social problems. You will join the month-long "From Moon to Earth" campaign initiated by the social sciences department, the Blue, and the Green Houses.