Systems Thinking | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Systems Thinking

Systems Thinking

Ready to create impact -- in sustainable design? We’re offering one of our sustainability-focused courses for the Spring, open to all.

If you’re considering joining our fully online MA in Sustainable Design program, this is a good chance to engage with us and see what it’s like to learn online. If not, it’s a wonderful way to learn more about sustainability!

Course Description
Systems thinking is relational thinking, a this course, students examine how systemic relations underpin efforts to cultivate a more sustainable world. Students analyze patterns of identity, creativity, and change, and nurture capacities for anticipating, coordinating, and contextualizing. Drawing from a wide range of source materials, numerous voices will inform the research. Course assignments include both mapping exercises, which investigate situational complexities through the use of models, frameworks, and matrices, and reflective practices that attend to experiences which manifest during these explorations.

This is a graduate level class and is part of MCAD's Master of Arts in Sustainable Design.

Date: Mon, Aug. 24, 2026- Fri, Dec. 11, 2026

Registration is now open..

While you're there, check out the (fully online) Sustainable Design courses we're offering this fall!

If you’re interested in learning more about sustainable design, or our fully online MA in Sustainable Design program, please reach out to me.

Dawn Keene, Director, MA in Sustainable Design

Published on
June 25, 2026

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Minneapolis, MN 55404

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The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) acknowledges it is located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. This is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota and Ojibwe people, who were forcibly exiled from the land because of aggressive and persistent settler colonialism. We recognize that this place has a complex and layered history. As a community dedicated to creativity, MCAD is committed to ongoing efforts to support and advocate for American Indian Nations and peoples.


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