The world is amidst the largest humanitarian refugee crisis since World War II. Media coverage has been widespread, but little attention has been paid to northern Uganda, what is currently the world’s largest resettlement area. Throughout the latter half of 2016, an average of more than 2,000 South Sudanese refugees crossed into Uganda each day, and, as December 2017, Uganda hosted more than one million South Sudanese refugees. A major set of challenges arises: How might we provide long-term food, water, housing, healthcare, education, employment, and security in this resource-strained environment?

Exemplified in the global refugee crisis, the grand challenges of the world today are immensely complex and demand creative problem solving. This course, therefore, introduces and leverages multiple problem-solving and design-thinking strategies to prepare students for engaging some of the greatest challenges of human history.