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IDIS 473 Designing Your Life After Queen's

 Fall 2023 (Online), Winter 2024 (Online)
 Year 4 Optional Course
 9-10 hours/week
 3 units
Available
Online Course

The Designing Your Life After Queen’s course uses design thinking to help students from any program plan their life and career after graduation. Developed by Stanford University and offered at schools across North America, this course draws on the fields of philosophy, psychology and career counselling to help you align your personal values with your academic interests, career ambitions and desire for social impact. You will learn to use a design process to create career plans from conception to implementation, explore how career choices can contribute to positive social change, and create prototype experiments that will move you closer to your goals. The course also addresses the realities of engaging in the contemporary workplace and introduces practices that support career development over the long term. Due to the personalized nature of the assignments, this course uses a pass/fail grading system.


Minimum 4th year (level 4) standing, or permission of the instructor

After completing IDIS 473, learners will be able to:

  1. Articulate coherent philosophies of life and work to guide their future education and career choices.
  2. Understand the impact of sociocultural factors on their professional identity and career.
  3. Use design theory and a framework to evaluate options and create plans to achieve their educational and career goals.
  4. Employ career development methods to position their education, work experience and background in an educational setting or job field of their choice.
  5. Present a post-graduation education or career vision and next steps for moving forward.

Grading System

This course is designed to guide and accompany students as they plan their life and career after graduation. Because integration of individual interests, values and goals is an essential part of all assignments, grades are awarded on a pass/fail basis, using process criteria only. Students must achieve a passing grade on all assignments in order to receive a passing grade in the course. Grading rubrics will be provided for each assignment.

Students can expect to spend approximately 9-10 hours a week (108-120 hours per term) in study/practice and doing in-class and online activities for IDIS 473.

Required Texts

Burnett W. and Evans D.J. (2015). Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf

Course Reading Package