Engaged Projects (CSPL/CGST480) are 1.0-credit, semi-independent educational endeavors. Students start with a topic or question that has some connection to their academic pursuits and/or to the world at large. They recruit a “Sponsor” who has personal or professional experience with their topic, and later they are matched with two other Engaged Projects students (their “Cohort”) who provide peer advising and accountability.

Over the course of one semester, Engaged Projects students research and analyze their topic, produce a project intended for a public (not academic) audience, and complete reflection essays to document and deepen their learning along the way.

Engaged Projects can be a fit for students of all class years and majors, including juniors who are considering a senior thesis and want to gain experience with rigorous self-directed scholarship and seniors who want to pursue a capstone project but have chosen not to do a thesis.

Recent examples that have global or international components include:

• Econ, Data Analysis, and East Asian Studies Major Jiwan Lee ’21 fused together her academic passions by using South Korea’s public COVID-19 data to create a practical business plan to help the struggling restaurants stay afloat.
• Film Major Jangho Yun ’23 created a short documentary detailing the everyday lives of apartment guards in South Korea.
• Dance major Alla Kiperman ’21 gathered quarantine stories from her friends, family, and people all over the world to write monologues featured in a Zoom theatrical performance.

Questions? Interested in enrolling? Contact Makaela Kingsley at mjkingsley@wesleyan.edu or by appointment at http://calendly.com/mjkingsley.