2025 SGSI Course Overview
Select "View full course details" in each section to see the full course description, schedule, format, and objectives.
For course audiences marked with an asterisk (*), view full course details for restrictions.
Course Intensity Ratings
🔥 Mild intensity. Multiple topics are covered at a steady pace, with in-class activities requiring some preparation. Some out-of-class work is required, and regular in-class participation is expected.
🔥🔥 Medium intensity. A variety of topics are covered at a quick pace, with in-class activities that require moderate out-of-class preparation and active in-class engagement.
🔥🔥🔥 High intensity. Numerous advanced topics are covered at a rapid pace, with immersive in-class activities that require significant out-of-class preparation and active in-class engagement.
- Leticia Britos Cavagnaro, PhD, adjunct professor in the MS Design Program and senior designer, Future Foundations of Design and Teaching & Learning Studio, d.school
- sam seidel, PhD, director of products + publications and co-director, K-12 Lab Program, d.school
- Aleta Hayes, senior lecturer and director of dance, theater, and performance studies (TAPS)
If you want to succeed in a rapidly changing world, you will need to work with others outside of your discipline and learn from everyone and from every situation. This hands-on workshop will give you the opportunity to develop abilities used by designers towards these goals.
Audience: This class is open to incoming graduate students* in any discipline who are interested in design as a methodology for interdisciplinary collaboration. It is not a product or service design class.
How can you take any group of reasonable people and turn them into a high-performing team? That’s the central question we answer in this boot-camp style experiential class. The purpose of the Coaching High-Performance Teams & Individuals course is to change the way you think about team problems, opportunities, and yourself. Through challenging team exercises, coaching sessions, and lots of hands-on experiences, this course is definitely NOT a spectator sport. However, in one week, participants leave this course with team analysis and coaching tools that will empower you to impact the world in profound ways.
Audience: This course is open to all graduate students* and postdoctoral fellows who are interested in becoming strong team members and leaders.
- Mariel Rosic, lecturer and fellow, Life and Design Lab
- Deepak Ramola, lecturer and fellow, Life and Design Lab
What do you want out of life after graduate school? Wondering how to weave together what fits, is doable, and will be truly meaningful? Join us for Designing the Professional, from the people who brought you Designing Your Life. This course applies the principles of design thinking to the "wicked problem" of designing your life and vocation while in and beyond Stanford. We'll approach these lifelong questions with a structured framework set in a seminar where you can work out your ideas in interaction and conversation with your peers.
Audience: Open to all graduate students* in any discipline, as well as postdoctoral scholars, if space allows. If oversubscribed, preference is given to doctoral students near completion of their degree.
- Vivian Feig, assistant professor, Mechanical Engineering
- Hannah O'Day, research engineer, Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance
It’s time for a leap forward in women’s health innovation. In this intensive one-week sprint, graduate students will use design thinking to tackle pressing challenges in women’s health. Working in teams, participants will explore different dimensions of the field, guided by expert stakeholders and coaches. Using tools like rapid prototyping and iteration, students will discover how human-centered design can drive technical breakthroughs in research. More than just a course, this experience aims to inspire new perspectives, build a community of innovators, and spark lasting change in the way we approach women’s health.
Audience: Open to incoming and returning graduate students* as well as postdoctoral scholars, if space allows.
- William Chueh, director, Precourt Institute for Energy and associate professor, Materials Science and Engineering
- Dr. Diana Gragg, managing director, Explore Energy
Jumpstart your energy education at Stanford. Build your personal energy network and hear about current research from distinguished Stanford energy faculty and expert speakers. Develop a broad perspective on energy; meet Silicon Valley energy entrepreneurs; tour Stanford's state-of-the-art energy facilities; and connect with Explore Energy and the robust energy community on campus. This four-day course will allow you to meet incoming graduate and professional school students who share an interest in energy and build an interdisciplinary community across campus. An energy background is not required; students from all schools and departments are encouraged to apply.
Audience: Graduate and professional school students* in any discipline are encouraged to apply.
- Anne Newman, Executive Director, McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society
- Caitlin Murphy Brust, lecturer in the COLLEGE Program
Ethical questions arise in all aspects of campus life. This course will examine some of these perennial questions and the foundational values that underlie them (e.g., justice, merit, equality). We will explore these values by considering current debates on campuses about issues like the societal consequences of research, anti-racist educational practices, university finances, and, most broadly, what a justice-promoting university might entail. We will discuss short readings and hear from guest speakers to learn about relevant campus norms and their rationales.
Audience: Open to incoming and returning graduate students* as well as postdoctoral scholars, if space allows.
- Nicole Ardoin, associate professor, Environmental Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability
Join us to explore sustainability from a range of perspectives, including systems and solutions orientations. Through guest speakers, large- and small-group discussions, and hands-on workshops with faculty and academic staff from Stanford’s Doerr School of Sustainability and across campus, you will hone your knowledge and skills in areas from systems thinking to waste management, from climate change to community engagement, and more. By the end of the week, you will have expanded your network of colleagues with shared interests in climate, energy, and environmental justice, and you will leave with actionable steps to apply a sustainability lens to your scholarship.
Audience: Open to all graduate students*, with a preference for incoming, first-year PhD students. Open to postdoctoral scholars, if space allows.
- Frederic Luskin, PhD, director, Stanford Forgiveness Project
- Jessica Jacobson, PsyD, Instructor
This course explores human flourishing and how to practice it in an age of hyper-complexity and ever-accelerating pace. We will engage these ideas through research-informed reading, class discussion, and guided practice related to the psychological, emotional, and social factors that promote a well-lived life. Graduate students from a range of disciplines will learn how to transform this learning from concept to lived experience.
Audience: Open to all graduate students* in any discipline and postdoctoral scholars, if space allows.
- Vaughn Rasberry, associate vice provost for graduate education, associate professor of English
In academia, everyone has heard the adage, "Publish or perish." But how does one go about publication? The process is opaque, especially for graduate students, and departments do not always instruct emerging scholars in how publication works. This course will provide practical tips and insights into publishing research in the humanities and interpretive social sciences.
Audience: Open to all graduate students* at all stages in any discipline and postdoctoral scholars, if space allows.
- Chris Golde, PhD, assistant director of Career Communities–PhDs & Postdocs, Stanford Career Education
- Arne Bakker, PhD, senior director of events and engagement, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Are you about to enter the job market for a faculty position? Get a jumpstart on preparing yourself and your application materials. This course is practical and experiential, involving practicing and editing. We will work on both written and oral parts of your job search preparation, including CVs, cover letters, the job talk, research statements, and teaching statements. Experts from across Stanford will present. An interdisciplinary class of peers will support you.
Audience: Open to advanced doctoral students and postdoctoral scholars entering the faculty job market during 2025-26.
- JT, PhD, director of RAISE Doctoral Fellowship Program, Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education
In recent years, there have been increasing calls both within and beyond academia for universities to accelerate solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. This purpose also drives the interests of many graduate students. Join us to learn from leading scholars about different approaches to community-engaged scholarship and how you can develop a research agenda that addresses the priorities and needs of the broader community. Each session will involve scholars from across campus, and by the end of the week, participants will draft a brief research memo to guide their next steps.
Audience: Open to all incoming and current graduate students, but particularly PhD students* in any discipline, and postdoctoral scholars, if space allows.
- Dr. Yunshu Fan, PhD, associate director of faculty and lecturer programs, CTL
- Dr. Jamie Imam, PhD, advanced lecturer, Biology
- Dr. Shima Salehi, PhD, assistant professor, Graduate School of Education
Are you curious about what influences student learning and experience in the classroom? Join this community to ignite your curiosity, utilize and develop research skills, and discover pedagogical literature that will guide your design of a scholarly teaching project centered on understanding and ultimately improving student outcomes. Designing this project will help you become a more reflective instructor that can use classroom evidence to improve and inform your teaching. Completing the project afterwards will fulfill a significant portion of the requirements for the Practitioner level CIRTL@Stanford teaching certificate and may also help with future job applications and interviews.
Audience: Open to all graduate students*, and postdoctoral scholars, if space allows.