Interdisciplinary project database

New Social Media

Brainstorm and develop an idea for a new social media platform that brings people together. How would it function? Why would people want to use it? Use a UI/UX software like Figma to plan out and demonstrate your ideas.

Credability

Use the Credibility Game as a starting point or design your own quiz game to help students understand and evaluate reliable, credible sources.

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?

Ethnography

An ethnography is an observational research method used to understand societies and cultures. Create an ethnography of your class, highlighting unique characteristics of individuals of groups, routines and rituals, etc.

Fortnite Dance Analysis

Take a moment to celebrate how weird and bizarre trends are during the modern era (and perhaps, the past!) Potentially, try dancing to various trendy dances throughout the years. Here’s a sequence of dances from the video game Fortnite…with their references!

History of Shifting Goals

It is important to make plans, but various events will cause us to shift our goals. For example, activist and President of South Africa Nelson Mandela studied English, anthropology, politics, "native administration", Roman Dutch law, and was actively involved in ballroom dancing.

Look at various famous leaders, professionals, and activists throughout your country’s history. What was their upbringing? What did they do in school? If they attended higher education, what did they major in? Ultimately, how does this all compare to what they did historically?

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.

Analyzing World Hunger

Analyze charts and other data to recognize how we can go about feeding the world by 2050 (as our population exponentially increases). Think about what steps young people can take to ensure that these changes happen.

Dyscalculia

Although many are familiar with dyslexia, less know about dyscalculia: a learning disability that hampers mathematical thinking. Roughly 10% of elementary school students are believed to have dyscalculia. Consider other ways that mathematics can be taught than simple arithmetic, and showcase these ideas through that lens. For example: rhythm, music, games, hands-on activities, building.

Soft Skill Analysis

Perform an in-depth analysis of a certain “soft skill”: teamwork, communication, time-management, etc. Why is that skill valuable and needed? Where can you find examples of it in action? How can that skill be better taught in a school curriculum? 

Biotechnology and World Hunger

Consider the impact of biotechnology on world hunger. Will the implementation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) alleviate the hunger crisis? Is there any danger to the production and consumption of GMOs?

Healthy Lifestyles

Creativity is an applicable skill in understanding how to maintain a healthy lifestyle beyond a linear look at gyms and dieting. Consider what other ways people can be healthy, such as nature photography or becoming a part-time community dog walker.

Street Art Techniques

Analyze how graffiti artists move their craft from sketches to spray painting, highlighting how professional graffiti artists hone their craft. Then, demonstrate and create projects together using these techniques.

Misleading Graphs

Misleading Graphs is a great resource to help students understand how to lie and mislead with statistics and graphic information. Have students improve upon the examples on the site. Give students a data set and have them create their own “misleading graph”!

Justice Through Art

Expand beyond the inwards/outwards identity activity to other methods of expressing one’s identity through artistic expression. For example, have students identify issues that matter to them and have them express these ideas in a specific art style. Examine how various social justice movements utilize art to demand change.

How can we realistically feed the world?

Read the opinion piece To feed the world in 2050 will require a global revolution by Ehrlich & Harte, which highlights the challenges to mobilize governments to make the necessary changes to solve food insecurity and hunger. Consider the claims by the authors: is their reasoning valid? What will it take to overcome these challenges?

Transhumanism

Explore bioethics. When merging science and ethical thinking, what are we allowed to do? How does our exploration of science help (and sometimes harm!) our environments? Consider exploring the concept of “transhumanism”, or the enhancement of human bodies. What is natural? Is it possible to expand science too far?

Voting Age

In many countries around the world the minimum voting age is between 16-18. But is that minimum voting age fair, should it be raised or lowered? What are the arguments for or against raising or lowering the minimum voting age? What would be the benefits or the costs? What about society would look different as a result?

Mass Media

Analyze how mass media influences peoples’ biases and opinions on controversial issues, and help students cultivate ways to encourage critical thinking about media sources.

Art and Sustainability

Read about the various ways that artists are connecting with the food sustainability movement to promote just causes. Brainstorm how your community could convey the need for sustainable practices through an art project.

City Aesthetics

What will the city of the future look like? Beyond infrastructure and strictly logistics, aesthetics are also incredibly important to a flourishing city. Study different forms of architecture historically and around the world. Then, have students brainstorm their own unique, intriguing, or outright wacky versions of new, modern architecture.

Community Mapping | Green Space

Having access to quality green spaces ensures that community members have healthier, more desirable places to live. Make a map of your community that highlights all of the areas that could be renovated, demolished, or rezoned for green space. Consider the impact on the community (including the areas that you’re changing), and whether or not these green spaces are worthwhile. Present this to local stakeholders.

Phys Ed Visions

Physical education can be a divisive subject because the types of activities in the class can instigate anxiety and social pressure, especially when designed through the teacher’s lens. Hold an open conversation about the purpose of physical education and student experiences in the subject, offering space to suggest new activities.

Contentious Issues

Is there a contentious issue in your neighborhood? Look at building development, environmentalism, traffic/road servicing, and more, and see what people are talking about. Interview different perspectives on the topic and showcase how their opinions differ but could be compromised on.

Stereotyping in Art

In Western Art, orientalism can appear as an imitation of artistic styles found in the Middle East, Asia, and even Africa, but can sometimes exist as stereotypical portrayals of Eastern societies and cultures as exotic, mysterious, alluring, and/or threatening. Help students find examples of orientalism in Western art and how to avoid stereotyping Eastern cultures in their own art.

Math Anxiety

Talk about the concept of math anxiety. How can we create classrooms where students aren’t afraid to challenge themselves with mathematics? Present options on how math can connect to personal goals and experiences.

Breaking Bubbles

How do we break our perspective’s “bubble”? Assign a reading with reflection that goes against one’s opinion or preconceived notions. Of course, students may not change their mind — but challenging their perspective allows them to grow their ideas and consider new possibilities.

What Do We Track?

Continue the examination of cultural values with resources from Gallup. Gallup has tracked global well-being and happiness over time. What factors contribute to well-being? What is the relationship between GDP and well-being? Why do some regions of the world report higher levels of well-being than others?

Advances in Community

Consider how massive advances in your community have been made as a result of struggle and debate on a certain historical issue. Visit a local library, community center, or community activist and learn about what struggles the community has faced. Then, prepare a presentation on this issue, demonstrating to your peers why compromise is important.

(Un)Connected Art

Consider how interconnected (and not connected) different types of artwork are. For example, are anime artists intertwined in the same “bubble” as fine artists? What are the preconceived notions about different types of art? What would happen if these ideas were blended together?

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?

Full Conversation

How do we know that someone is truly paying attention to us? How do we communicate that we are hearing them? Present different ways in which one can have a full conversation with other people, identifying distractions or charismatic faults that may interfere with positive communication.