What are Specializations?

MDE Specializations are 24+ credit opportunities for students to combine their engineering coursework with other fields of study that are of interest to them and provide them with skills that are highly specialized and of interest in a particular field.

Students choosing the Individualized Specialization will work with their Academic Advisor to select 24+ credits of coursework that integrate a coherent theme and represent a student’s unique interests. The individualized specialization requires dedication and forethought, and can be focused in engineering or in a related field of student interest.

Students choosing the Entertainment Engineering specialization will take coursework in the School of Fine Arts focused on stagecraft and technical theater. Students with this specialization will be well positioned to work in the theater and entertainment industries with a strong engineering background that intersects with the performing arts.

Curriculum:

Required Courses: (24 credits)

DRAM 1219 - Stagecraft for Engineers - 3 Credits
DRAM 3201 - Scene Construction - 3 Credits
DRAM 3202 - Rigging - 3 Credits
DRAM 3203 - Drafting - 3 Credits
DRAM 3204 - Leadership and Planning in the Dramatic Arts - 3 Credits
DRAM 3199 - Independent Study - Production Assignment (2x, 3 Credits each, 6 Credits total)
DRAM 3XXX - Any 3000+ course in DRAM not used in fulfillment of another requirement. - 3 Credits

Suggested Content Area/General Education Courses:
DRAM 1101 (CA1) - Introduction to the Theater - 3 Credits
DRAM 1501 (CA1/CA4-I) - Introduction to World Puppetry - 3 Credits
AAAS 2136W (CA1/CA4-I) - Asian Theater and Performance - 3 Credits
DMD 2620 (CA2) - Human Development, Digital Media, and Technology - 3 Credits
DRAM/AFRA 3131 (CA4) - African American Theater - 3 Credits
DRAM 3133 (CA4) - Latinx Theater - 3 Credits

This specialization provides students with the necessary skills to solve complex engineering problems as they relate to the creation of products, services, or systems in the larger context of human experience.

Our curriculum encourages creative thinking within the core skillsets of a well-rounded engineering education. Students are trained to analyze complex problems, identify design opportunities, gather and evaluate user input, and apply best practices to arrive at well-engineered design solutions that fully meet the needs of end users. Through their coursework, students learn and refine essential industrial design skills, such as communicating effectively with internal and external teams, conducting preliminary design reviews, creating initial prototypes, drawing concepts, illustrating final renderings, building three-dimensional computer models, and crafting study models. These building blocks will allow them to arrive at final prototypes that will be tested and allow professors to offer valuable feedback that furthers their understanding and skill.

Industrial Design students complete their program as engineers with a deep understanding of industrial design processes and their social and ethical impact. They will be trained to be resourceful in their choice of project materials, create environmentally responsible solutions, and produce aesthetically appealing results that will fully prepare them to meet the needs of future clients in the context of real-world challenges. 

Curriculum:

Required Courses: (24 credits)
ART 3701 - Materials and Techniques. Spring. 3 credits
ART 3710 - Industrial Design: Drawing & Modeling for Design. Fall. 3 Credits
ART 3705 Industrial Design: Form, Structure and Space. Fall. 3 Credits
ART 3720 Industrial Design: Process and Practice. Spring. 3 Credits
ART 3725 Industrial Design: Process and Practice II. Fall. 3 Credits
ENGR 3735/ART 3735 Solidworks for Industrial Design. Fall. 3 Credits
Two ID electives selected from the following list (all classes not offered all semesters). Fall/Spring 6 credits

• ENGR 3740/ART 3740 Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Industrial Design. TBD. 3 Credits
• ENGR 3750/ART 3750 Packaging Design and Graphics. TBD. 3 Credits
• ART 3730 Digital Fabrication. Spring. 3 Credits
• ENGR 3760/ART 3760 Human Factors in Design - 3 Credits

The specialization in Human Rights and Sustainability combines the broad-based education in MDE with coursework from UConn’s renowned Human Rights Institute to give students experience not only in engineering but also the social, societal, and environmental responsibilities that engineers have as they develop solutions to the world’s problems.

Curriculum:

Required Courses: (24 credits)
ENGR/HRTS 2300: Engineering for Human Rights (CA2), ideally taken during the second semester of first year in the program – 3 Credits
3 Core Courses: one from each area (A, B, and C) – 9 Credits

4 additional courses that may be taken from any of the Core or Elective courses on the list below, including Engineering courses – 12 credits

• Students are encouraged, but not required, to take a W course in Human Rights as part of the 24 credits.
• A capstone engineering design project (ENGR 4001 and ENGR 4002W) with strong HR content as approved by the MDE faculty advisory board and HRI Director, or Internship in HR (HRTS 4291) for students whose capstone design project does not have a significant HR theme. HRTS 4291 would count as one for the four “additional courses” above.
• Note: Students can elect to do both an HR-themed capstone and an HR internship if desired but must have at least one HR-themed experiential learning experience.

The MDE advising team will be responsible for ensuring that students successfully navigate the program requirements. The Human Rights undergraduate advising team will work with the students to identify experiential learning opportunities for students in the major.

Core Courses

A) Institutions and Laws
ANTH/HRTS 3230/W Propaganda, Disinformation, and Hate Speech
HIST/HRTS 3202 International Human Rights
HRTS 3050 Approaches to Human Rights Advocacy
HRTS 3055 Theory and Practice of International Criminal Justice
HRTS 3200/W International Human Rights Law
POLS/HRTS 3212 Comparative Perspectives on Human Rights
POLS/HRTS 3420 Being International – Geopolitics and Human Rights (study abroad)
POLS/HRTS 3428 The Politics of Torture
SOCI/HRTS 3831  Human Rights in the United States
SOCI/HRTS 3837/W Sociology of Global Human Rights

B) History, Philosophy and Theory
ANTH/HRTS 3326 Global Health and Human Rights
ANTH/HRTS/LLAS 3327 Power & Health in Latin America & the Caribbean
ENGL/HRTS 3631 Literature, Culture, and Humanitarianism
HIST/HRTS 3201 The History of Human Rights
HIST/HRTS 3207 Genocide after the Second World War
HIST/HRTS 3232 History of Refugees, Migration and Statelessness
HRTS 2100W: Human Rights and Social Change
HRTS/LLAS 2450: Human Rights in Latin America
HRTS 3460: Human Rights and Armed Conflict
HRTS/POLS 3042 The Theory of Human Rights
HRTS/PHIL 3220/W Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights
HRTS 3710 Islam and Human Rights

C) Applications and Methods
BADM or BLAW or HRTS 3252 Corporate Social Impact and Responsibility
BADM or BLAW or HRTS 3254 Business Solutions to Societal Challenges
DRAM/HRTS 3139 Theater and Human Rights
ENGR or HRTS 3257 Assessment for Human Rights Sustainability
ENGR 2XXX Engineering for HR (being added in Autumn 2021)
HRTS 3149/W Human Rights through Film
HRTS 3250/W Human Rights and New Technologies
HRTS 3475 Economic Development and Human Rights
HRTS 3540 Topics in Human Rights Practice
POLS/HRTS 3256/W Politics & Human Rights in Global Supply Chains
POLS/HRTS 3430 Evaluating Human Rights Practices of Countries
SOCI/HRTS 3835/W Refugee Camps and Humanitarianism

 Note (not on the catalog copy)
HRTS 3293: International Study
HRTS 3295: Special Topics
HRTS 3298: Variable Topics
HRTS 3299: Independent Study

D) Elective Courses
Any HRTS course numbered 2000 or above
ANTH/HRTS 3028/W Indigenous Rights and Aboriginal Australia
ANTH 3153W Migration
ARTH/HRTS 3575 Human Rights and Visual Culture
ECON 3473/W Economic Development
ECON 2445/HRTS/WGSS 3445 Economic Foundations of Gender Inequality
EDCI 2100 Power, Privilege, and Public Education
GEOG 3240 Medical and Health Care Geography
HIST/AAAS 3531 Japanese Americans and World War II
HIST 3418 The Holocaust
HIST 3570 American Indian History
NRE 2600E Global Sustainable Natural Resources (CA4INT, E Lit)
PHIL/HRTS 2170W Bioethics and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective
PHIL 2215/W Ethics
POLS/HRTS 3418/W International Organizations and Law
POLS/HRTS 3807 Constitutional Rights and Liberties
POLS 3240E Climate Justice
POLS/ENGR/HRTS 3209
SOCI/AAAS 3222/HRTS 3573
SOCI/HRTS 3421/W Class, Power, and Inequality
SOCI/HRTS 3833 Topics in Sociology and Human Rights
SOCI/HRTS/AFRA 3505 White Racism
SOCI/HRTS/AFRA 3825 African Americans and Social Protest
WGSS/HRTS 2263; WGSS 2255, 3105, 3257, 3269.

F) Capstone Course (three credits) This course is only required for students whose Senior Design sequence does not have a strong human rights component. Any student can complete an HRI internship and have it count for elective credit.
HRTS 4291 (Service Learning/Internship)