Curriculum Overview
The Doctor of Social Innovation (DSI) curriculum is designed to prepare experienced professionals to lead innovation in a rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world. Integrating theory with practice, the curriculum advances students' capabilities in leadership, innovation and innovative thinking, and applied inquiry and evaluation. Together, these areas prepare students to develop, advance, and evaluate innovative solutions and lead their adoption and implementation across local, national, and global contexts.
Grounded in human-centered design, social innovation, systems and change leadership, ethical leadership, and the responsible application of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, the curriculum emphasizes interprofessional collaboration and applied learning. Students apply course concepts to real-world challenges and opportunities in their professional environments throughout the program.
Curriculum Snapshot
The interdisciplinary DSI curriculum prepares professionals to lead innovation in a rapidly changing and increasingly interconnected world.
Core areas of study include:
- Innovative Thinking
- Social Innovation
- Human-Centered Design
- Systems and Change Leadership
- Interprofessional Collaboration and Leadership
- Strategic Leadership
- Organizational and Community Transformation
- Design-Informed Evaluation
- Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies
- Technology-Enabled Change
- Global Leadership and Intercultural Competence
Explore the DSI curriculum and courses to see how these areas of study are integrated throughout the program.
The DSI requires completion of 42 units in the School of Social Work. The following course sequence represents the requirements for the DSI and may be subject to change.
| Semester | Units | Course |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | SOWK 704: Complex Social Problems SOWK 706: Leadership for Intervention in Complex Systems |
| 2 | 6 | SOWK 713: Research Methods for Intervention Design and Evaluation SOWK 711: Design Lab for Social Innovation I |
| 3 | 6 | SOWK 720: Leadership and Communication for Sustaining Interventions SOWK 769: Applied Data Analysis for Social Impact Leadership |
| 4 | 6 | SOWK 707: Financial Management for Social Change SOWK 721: Data Driven Decision Making in Social Services |
| 5 | 6 | SOWK 716: Complex Social Problem Identification SOWK 718: Design-Informed Evaluation for Social Innovation |
| 6 | 6 | SOWK 717: Stakeholder Engagement and Solutions SOWK 723: Design Lab for Social Innovation II |
| 7 | 2 | SOWK 725A: Preparatory Scholarship for Capstone |
| 8 | 2 | SOWK 725B: Preparatory Scholarship for Capstone |
| 9 | 2 | SOWK 725C: Preparatory Scholarship for Capstone |