Integrative & Global Studies

WPI's Department of Integrative & Global Studies (DIGS) is a unique academic department that functions as a gateway for students and faculty to connect with and make a difference in communities around the world.

As part of The Global School at WPI, the department serves three vital components of WPI’s project-based learning model. The Great Problems Seminar gives students and faculty the opportunity to combine disciplinary lenses to explore holistic approaches to global problem solving. The Interactive Qualifying Project is a distinctive interdisciplinary project experience that challenges students to examine the impact of science and technology on society to address social issues and human needs. The Global Projects Program is WPI’s signature study- and work-away program.

Building on WPI’s distinctive interdisciplinary, project-based approach to education, a Community Climate Adaptation (CCA) Master’s program—a joint program between the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and DIGS—offers students training to support communities and organizations as they adapt to the impacts of a changing climate around the globe. Students also have the opportunity to pursue Individually Designed Interdisciplinary Majors that are approved, supported, and overseen through the department.

Through DIGS, new research and academic programs will continue to emerge and develop through a dedication to interdisciplinary research with real-world impacts.

Degree is also offered online.

Area of Study	Master
Community Climate Adaptation	master
Global Health	master

Tackling the World's Problems

In the Great Problems Seminar (GPS), first-year students tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems, helping them to develop the skills, knowledge and confidence needed not only for the rest of their college career, but for life. This two-term, introductory project-based course—taught by two professors from different disciplines—allows students to step outside their disciplines, work in teams, and delve into issues of global importance.

Hear From GPS Students

Project Immersion: Bar Harbor

WPI students aren’t your typical learners, and the Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) is not your typical study abroad. Each term, students and faculty members travel to one of more than 50 project centers around the world to put theory into practice. Follow 20 students and one faculty member as they travel to Bar Harbor, Maine and embark on a distinctive immersive project experience working with a local sponsoring organization.

Visit the Bar Harbor Immersion Site

WPI Recognized as Gilman Top Producing Institution

The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship supports undergraduate U.S. citizens of limited financial means to study abroad with the goal to “reshape study abroad to make it more accessible and inclusive for American students.” WPI was named a Top Producing Institution for the 2018—2019 academic year, earning additional recognition as a top producer of STEM students as well among medium-sized colleges and universities that produced scholarship winners.

Learn More

WPI Receives 2019 Seal of Excellence for Commitment to Generation Study Abroad

Since 2016, IIE has recognized the U.S. colleges and universities that have made strategic commitments to the Generation Study Abroad initiative and achieved their goal of increasing the number of U.S. students studying abroad from their campus before the end of the decade. This year, 28 campuses, including WPI, were recognized by IIE for meeting their Generation Study Abroad commitments and successfully increasing the numbers of students participating in study abroad.

Media Coverage

See More Media Coverage

NuclearNewswire

Biden appoints six new Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board members

Seth Tuler, associate professor in the department of integrative and global studies, has been appointed to serve as a board member of an independent federal agency that performs technical and scientific peer reviews of nuclear waste management and disposal activities in the United States.

Additional Publications: E&E News

Telegram.com

New courses at Worcester colleges offer wide variety

For the first time this fall, the Great Problems Seminar, a program for first-year students, will feature two courses dedicated to understanding and thinking critically about artificial intelligence. The Telegram & Gazette highlighted one of the new courses: AI, Design, and Society. The course will provide a hands-on opportunity to build and use AI systems and to explore the history and future of AI. It will be co-taught by Sarah Stanlick, director of the Great Problems Seminar and assistant professor in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies, and Gillian Smith, director of the Interactive Media and Game Development Program and associate professor of computer science.

Telegram.com

Can nuclear power help Massachusetts reach its climate goals?

How might nuclear energy fit into Massachusetts’ climate goals? Professor Derren Rosbach of The Global School shared analysis on the topic with the Telegram & Gazette and discussed his research with Professor David Medich on next generation nuclear microreactors.

The Academic Minute

Failing Forward with Project-Based Learning

In The Academic Minute podcast, Sarah Stanlick, assistant professor in the Department of Integrative and Global Studies and director of the Great Problems Seminar, explains how a WPI alumni survey demonstrates that a negative project experience still provides learning benefits to students. The findings shed light on the differences between satisfaction and learning and demonstrate that even projects that do not seem useful to students at the time can have lasting positive benefits.