Interdisciplinary project database

Partnering with NGOs

Find a local nonprofit, NGO, political party, or organization who would be willing to take a large action on this issue and partner with them to extend their impact.

Understanding Hearing Loss

Nearly 430 million people worldwide have disabling hearing loss, making speech and the spoken word difficult to access for about 5% of the global population. There are numerous sign-language alphabets, research which one is used primarily in your community and learn to communicate the basics to improve your ability to interact with deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Alternatively, you can start a sign-language club to encourage others to pick up the language!

Tenacity

Find an adult mentor, role model, or someone you look up to and talk to them about how they demonstrate tenacity. Ask them to take the Grit Scale quiz (see below) and discuss their own barriers to grittiness.

Futuristic Communities

Analyze how your local community has incorporated “future technology” over the years to the betterment of its populace. For example, how has your city designed roads, traffic signals, public transit, or building materials? What could they do to further these developments?

Social Contract

Governments are vast systems that are upheld entirely by a social contract: people listen and act according to a series of laws they choose to uphold. How easy would it be to break these laws? Why is it that people decide to go along with them? Consider how laws are enforced, why people follow them, and what impact would be made if people introduced unreasonable laws or enforcement mechanisms.

Mythology

Examine mythology and folklore of various ancient religions. Identify the morals of various stories, dissecting why these stories were written and the goals the authors had for their work.

Value Sort

Repeat the Value Sort activity (in this lesson) with adults in your community: have students repeat it with parents, have teachers complete it in your building, have different groups in your community complete the value sort. Compare responses: what stands out as notably similar or different? What accounts for generational differences, or those explained by culture, religion, class, ethnic background, etc.?

Social Expectations

How does body type, identity, and health become twisted through the use of social media? Read about how young people are having their self-image shaped by the photos they view on social media, and discuss why it is dangerous to buy into the myths of social media.

Faith and Art

Analyze how various faiths around the world have been heavily tied to art, noticing how many great works have been as a result of faith-based initiatives. Compare the world religion’s different works and how they’re stylistically different.

Poverty Line

What is the poverty line where you live? What structural and systemic economic, social, and political barriers keep people in poverty? Research the factors that produce inequality and poverty in your community, state, or country.

Write a Review

Have students consider a work of art that they love: such as an album, video game, or book. Write a review about it — what does it do well? Who would like it? How could it be better?

The Art of Code

Highlight excerpts fromThe Art of Code - Dylan Beattie”, which demonstrates how nuanced and creative the field of coding is, and how much it takes to develop the applications that govern much of what we do in the modern world. Have students reflect: how are math and science connected to art?

Ethics of AI

One could explore the ethical implications of AI from a number of different angles. For example, one could consider the impact of AI on employment, specifically whether or not AI will lead to mass unemployment as machines increasingly take on tasks that have traditionally been done by human beings.

"Dead Languages"

Much of the beauty and understanding of historic, classic languages have been lost to time. “Dead languages”, which are no longer spoken or have morphed into something completely different, still can teach us a lot. Research and present on a dead language, such as Sakhalin or Kuril Ainu.

Local Heritage

What local sites are vital to your own cultural heritage or those of others in your community or region? Research or visit these to understand their impact and importance!

Local Artists

Great art is often done in partnership with others. Reach out to local artists to listen, learn, and improve on. Who are the great local artists of your area? What do they specialize in? Research more about them and conduct interviews on their tips and techniques. Then, use this work to inform your own.

Mediums of Art

Consider systems through mediums: how can art display itself in a variety of mechanisms: through illustration, digital design, music, video, dance, and more. How can the same concept be portrayed in these styles, and what impact does each style have? Are there advantages and disadvantages in each medium?

Environmental Racism

Look at the impact of environmental racism on communities. Consider studying how lead poisoning affects people and why it matters that we care for all people in communities.

Job Fair

Reach out to local businesses and establish a school “job fair”, where learners practice job interview schools with interested companies.

Historical Tenacity

Find examples of individuals and groups throughout history or the present, from your country or elsewhere, who exhibited tenacity and grit. Which criteria of grit do they exhibit? How did they overcome barriers to success? How did they persevere through adversity to accomplish a goal?

Industrialization and Factory Impact

Explore and assess the impact of fast fashion production on the communities and cultures in developing nations where production is concentrated (eg., Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Turkey, etc.) .

How does production disrupt traditional cultures and ways of living? How does production connect developing nations to global markets? In what ways are these connections positive and negative for the people and communities in these areas?

Connections

There’s a lot of amazing people doing work to make change. However, they’re often not aware of each other and therefore not having as much of an impact as they could. Act as a community liaison, researching all of the community action groups and individuals doing work in a certain sector of your community, arranging meetings and helping these groups coordinate with each other.

Regional Dialects

Why is it that people in urban, rural, and suburban areas all have different dialects and vernacular? How are people from these different places perceived? Why is it important to counteract stereotypes about SLI?

The History of Musical Math

As described throughout the lesson below - rhythm, music, and mathematics are heavily connected. Learn about the history of keys, chords, and musical notation, with a specific focus on the Greek philosopher Pythagoras who was “instrumental” in creating these ideas!

College Humanities

In the United States, there has been a significant decline in the number of college graduates with humanities degrees while the number of science and computer science degrees has skyrocketed. Discuss with your class why they think that is, what the positive or negative consequences could be for society, and what they think would have to be different for those trends to change.

Faith and Diet

Consider the impact of diet and healthy lifestyle decisions within the context of faith: noting how different faiths have various regulations on how they consume meat, seafood, and vegetables. What impact does this have on one’s lifestyle? Why are these cultures different?

What's Unknown?

Reach out to local mathematicians, such as at a local university, to better understand what mathematicians do in the modern age. Consider the problems that have yet to be solved and the reason why these matter.

Art for Organizing

Getting started is often the hardest step in making a difference. Consider how different organizing campaigns have utilized art and marketing to spur others toward change. Then, utilize these ideas in your own action campaigns.

Can Money Buy Happiness?

What is the amount of money someone needs to be happy? Drawing upon community contexts, studies on happiness and salaries, and mathematical inquiry, determine the answer to this question.

Disrupting Artistic "Canon"

Similarly to science and math, our understanding of art is highly influenced (in traditional curricula) by Western, male artists (e.g. Picasso, Michelangelo).

Highlight the contributions of female scientists and non-Western thinkers in both historical and modern settings.

Culture Fair

Foster a sense of awareness about different faiths in your community. Organize a cultural fair centered on bringing together different religions, inviting different faith leaders to bring readings, materials, activities, food, and more. Have peers attend and document the similarities and differences of each faith, recognizing how much representation there is in their community.

Stereotype Science

Consider the science of how stereotypes are formed. Are these natural occurrences? How are they unlearned? What is the purpose of stereotyping and why is it important to break away from them?