USA Lab

USA Lab at a glance

  • Term

    Spring

  • Units

    9 + SIP

  • Eligible students

    All MIT Sloan and MIT graduate students, DUSP, and undergraduate students 

  • Prerequisites

    No

  • Bid/Application

    Bid

  • Travel

    Domestic travel

  • Host organization profile

    Community-based foundations or other organizations located in regions across the U.S.

  • Sample sectors

    Small cities, towns, and rural areas in the U.S.

  • Sample projects

    Help develop regional, cross-sector partnership to fund affordable, quality daycare; advise private-sector employers on approaches to hiring in local immigrant communities

The class

Through faculty and student-led discussions, guest speakers, workshops, and project-related activities, students learn the complexities of the cultural and economic divides that America faces. During the semester, students work in 3-5 person teams on projects that amplify the themes of the course while addressing a specific problem that is material to the success of the people in their project location. 

Project hosts are local nonprofit or government organizations seeking to innovate in their regions. Teams usually travel to their project sites for two weeks during SIP and spring break. 

Details

USA Lab is a 9 credit Spring semester course, including both HI and H2, meaning that students must commit to the full semester for the course. It is open to any MIT graduate student and is offered jointly by the MIT Sloan School and the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP). 

Interested?

Bid for 15.679 USA Lab through the MIT Sloan bidding system starting the first week of December. 

Deliverables

There are three kinds of assignments for this course:

  • PARTICIPATION: Attending and participating actively in the class sessions and team project, as well as engaging reflectively with the ideas, materials, and your classmates is what we will be looking for, rather than the quantity of comments (35% of grade). 
  • REFLECTION MEMOS: The course is divided into three modules. After completing each module, students write an approximately two-page memo (15% of grade). 
  • TEAM PROJECT: Students conduct a field project with a host organization. Project deliverables include: a refined project design; a final written report; a poster session presentation for the Action Learning Poster Day, and a presentation to the class and community host about the final project results.