Welcome to undergraduate programs

Innovation in Society, BA
Innovation in Society, BS
Innovation in Society, Minor
Innovation for Impact Certificate

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Welcome to Undergraduate Programs

In our Innovation in Society programs you will learn the tools you need to analyze new technologies and innovations and how they may or may not benefit society. You will be prepared to develop innovative strategies to link the needs and values of society to new innovation to build exciting futures.

After completing one of our programs, you will be able to:

Think critically about how changes in technology affect society and vice versa.
Get to know the influences, origins, histories, values, and risks of science and technology.
Apply “future thinking” to analyze emerging trends and plausible futures.
Compare the local and global forces that shape innovation to better understand how they impact justice.
Bring together experts, professionals, decision makers, and the general public to make better decisions about issues that affect us all.

Undergraduate Program Flyer

Spring 2019 Outstanding Graduate: Jaideen Cobb

How can we shape the future?
What happens when technologies, markets, and ethics collide?
Can I innovate if I’m not a scientist?
Why do so many cool technologies fail?
Can technologies solve all of our problems?
Do technologies promote inequality?
Should governments promote or control innovation?
Why does the government spend about $150 billion on science each year?
How can I influence energy policy in Arizona?
Why aren’t there more women in STEM careers?

Undergraduate Degrees, BA or BS

In the Innovation in Society Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science programs, you will learn the tools you need to analyze new technologies and innovations and how they may or may not benefit society. You will be prepared to develop innovative strategies to link the needs and values of society to new innovation to build exciting futures.

Bachelor of Arts, Innovation in Society

The Bachelor of Arts in Innovation in Society gives you a full immersion in the various ways innovation and society impact each other and grow together. The BA is best suited to students inclined towards humanities, qualitative social sciences and related fields. Bachelor of Arts students complete a foreign language requirement.

Bachelor of Science, Innovation in Society

The Bachelor of Science in Innovation in Society gives you a full immersion in the various ways innovation and society impact each other and grow together. The BS is best suited to students inclined towards natural sciences, economics, engineering and quantitative social sciences. Bachelor of Science students take extra science, engineering, and/or math courses beyond the university requirements.

Minor and Certificate

Minor, Innovation in Society

Regardless of what major you are in, science and technology will probably impact your work. The minor in Innovation in Society gives you a chance to learn how new and emerging technologies can connect with the social needs and values of our communities to provide the best possible local and global futures. This 15-credit minor is intended to equip you with tools to build more inclusive futures.

Certificate, Innovation for Impact

The innovation for impact certificate will enable you to harness the power of innovation to achieve personally-meaningful and socially-significant goals. You will get the tools and learn the concepts to synthesize research from courses across disciplines in social sciences, humanities, natural sciences and engineering—from across campus as well as across the globe. You will identify a problem and work with peers, mentors, and the community to produce innovations that cultivate a better future for society.

Careers

As an Innovation in Society BA or BS, you have many career options from becoming an entrepreneur to a government official depending on your area of interest. Some examples of possible careers are