Habib University has always sought to provide its students, faculty and staff with the opportunity to gain experience from leading global undergraduate and research institutions in order to strengthen administrative frameworks, improve academic programs and to enrich multidisciplinary activities and project-based learning.
In that spirit, a three-member team from Habib University, including Dr. Aamir Hasan from Dhanani School of Science and Engineering, Dr. Aqdas Afzal of the School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Ms. Yasmeen Bano, Director and Head Student Affairs, recently participated in the four-day long Stanford Life Design Studio in the United States.
Every year, Stanford University offers a special training program during the summer and this year over 65 people were invited to attend the Life Design Studio 2019, which included HU’s team of staff and faculty. This unique collaboration with Stanford was facilitated by HU’s Office of Global Engagement.
The Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford, popularly known as ‘d.school’, is a place for the creatively adventurous and equips a person to learn design for creative problem solving and developing innovative potential. It also builds on methods from across the field of design to learn experiences that help people unlock their creative abilities and apply it to the world.
Stanford’s Life Design Lab is a dedicated space for leaders and innovators – engaging them to experiment and apply design thinking to tackle the problems of life and vocational way finding.
The HU team’s participation in the Life Design Studio was a cognitive experience for all those involved, helping them to understand the core concepts of life designing and its pedagogy, eventually using it to enrich the learning experience of students at Habib University.
The program included immersive training in life design material, personalized coaching and interactive sessions with other university educators also working in life design.
The rigorous, exciting and engaging experience of the Life Design Studio helped HU’s team develop a better understanding of Design Thinking and its elements, allowing them to apprehend its power to improve various aspects of human life.
One of the most memorable experiences of the trip for the HU team was meeting Habib students enrolled at Stanford Summer Schools. What made this so unique was that the students, along with faculty and staff, were all learners at that meet-up.
Over the next two semesters, the team that went to Stanford will be putting together a series of Design Your Life (DYL) workshops at Habib University, especially for freshmen. These workshops will help students build on methods from across the field of design to create learning experiences, which will unlock their creative potential and apply it to their four years stay at the University.
The great expectation is that these DYL workshops – which employ design thinking approach – would enable and foster a greater self-cultivated student community at Habib University and experience life through the essence of Yohsin.
