Thursday, March 1

Fall 2018 Problem Solving Initiative Classes



Interested in tackling real-world problems? Interested in working on multidisciplinary teams to find solutions? In the Problem Solving Initiative, you'll have the opportunity to work with a small team of graduate and professional students from across the University to gain experience doing just that. Consider taking an interdisciplinary problem solving course at the Law School this fall!

Connected and Automated Vehicles: Preparing for a Mixed-Fleet Future

This problem solving course will challenge a multidisciplinary team of students to address a real-world problem in the rapidly-evolving connected and automated vehicle landscape. The Detroit Metro area and the University of Michigan are leading the world in research and deploying technological advances in vehicle connectivity and automation. The potential benefits of “driverless cars” are widely understood, but the path to getting from the current state of human driving to a world of interconnected and “self-driving” vehicles entails an overwhelming confluence of technological, societal, legal, regulatory, political, and business problems. This course will focus on one particular angle: the potential multiple problems created by the unavoidable future interactions between automated vehicles and other road users, such as non-automated, human-driven vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Classes will be run as discovery sessions with industry, governmental, and academic experts. Students working in multidisciplinary sub-teams will dive deeply into particular aspects of the problem with the course culminating in the creation of an integrated class deliverable in the form of a business or operational plan proposing concrete solutions to the problem.
Instructors: Daniel Crane (Law), Anuj Pradhan (UM Transportation Research Institute), Bryant Walker Smith (Law and Engineering (by courtesy), University of South Carolina)
Credits: 3.0
Meeting Time: Tuesdays, 3:13-4:15pm (Lab); 4:30-6:30pm (Seminar)
Location: South Hall, Law School

Concussion: Reducing Brain Injuries in Youth Football

This course will challenge students to develop creative approaches to reducing the risk of brain injury in youth and high school football. Students will work in multi-disciplinary teams, under the guidance of the instructors, to conceive and propose novel solutions that draw on insights from law, engineering, medicine, business, ethics, and other relevant fields. Each student team will address a specific sub-topic relative to the course theme. Sub-topics may include: What changes in the rules governing practices, participation, and play should be instituted? What kinds of protective and monitoring equipment should be used, and under what protocols? How should such equipment be financed and distributed? 
Class time will focus on providing background information and discussion with topical experts. Students are expected to spend additional time outside of class contacting experts and researching scientific and lay materials. At the end of the term, students will present a proposal to an expert review panel.
Instructors: Richard Friedman (Law), Steven Broglio (Kinesiology)
Credits: 3.0
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15pm (Lab); 4:30-6:30pm (Seminar)
Location: South Hall, Law School

Battling Extremist Group Violence through Social Media

The class will use the experience of the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to develop a plan for countering the ways in which extremist groups use social media to instigate acts of violence. The class structure will be collaborative and multidisciplinary. Class time will focus on providing background information on, and discussion about, the problem. Students will spend additional time outside of class meeting in groups, thinking through the problem, and doing research in the service of the final class project, which they will present at the end of the semester to an expert review panel.
Instructors: Monica Hakimi (Law), Clifford Lampe (School of Information)
Credits: 3.0
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15pm (Lab); 4:30-6:30pm (Seminar)
Location: South Hall, Law School

"Fake News:" Truth, Misinformation, and Public Trust

We are facing what might be described as a failure or crisis of public trust in sources of truth about matters of fact. Public actors lie and accuse each other of lying. Media outlets present competing narratives. People do not know whom to trust or believe. Misinformation and conspiracy theories spread through social media. Our aim in this course will be to identify concrete potential interventions, solutions, or avenues for future exploration that might help people identify and trust sources of truth and/or that might mitigate the spread of misinformation. We will draw in insights from a range of inter-connected fields, including (but not limited to): psychology, communications, journalism, social media, information, computer science, law, and history. At the end of the term, students will present a proposal to an expert panel.
Instructors: Sherman Clark (Law), Mark Ackerman (Information and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science)
Credits: 3.0
Meeting Time: Wednesdays, 3:15-4:15pm (Lab); 4:30-6:30pm (Seminar)
Location: South Hall, Law School

Law, Development, and Heritage Preservation in India

In India – as in many parts of the world - economic growth and development have been key focus areas for successive governments. However, development often generates costs that force us to address difficult tradeoffs stemming from certain policies and reforms, such as the possible advantages to enhancing economic well-being versus the potential threats to the environment and heritage preservation. For example, although India has obtained substantial economic growth in the last two decades, there has also been deterioration in several aspects of India’s heritage, as only a small fraction of pre-colonial monuments in India receive federal protection and many of these (including many iconic Indian sites) face threats from demolition, desecration, decay, pollution, and other perils. In this problem solving course, we will focus on these kinds of issues in the Indian context and explore what the role of the law and other disciplines are, and could be, in mediating and balancing these concerns in concrete contexts.
We will first survey the salient features of India’s Constitution and polity and gauge the state of its economy and its environment. This will involve examining laws and policies related to property, judicial process, contract, tourism, historic preservation, and intellectual property amongst others. Along with this, we will examine theories and practices of historic preservation and consider the protection of, and pressures on, monuments and sites, as well as other aspects of India’s heritage (e.g., traditional knowledge). Thereafter, we will focus on an imperiled landscape in western India where 500 medieval temples stand around the periphery of a reservoir. We will conceptualize solutions that might promote its holistic renewal and serve as guidelines for the preservation of other sites of historical significance.
Class time will focus on providing background information and discussion with topical experts, such as archaeologists, attorneys, top bureaucrats, environmentalists, journalists, urban planners, and other stakeholders. Students are expected to spend additional time outside class contacting experts and performing research. At the end of the term, students will present a proposal to an expert review panel.
Instructors: Vikramaditya Khanna (Law), Nachiket Chanchani (LSA-History of Art and Asian Languages & Cultures)
Credits: 3.0
Meeting Time: Tuesdays 3:15-4:15pm (Lab); 4:30-6:30pm (Seminar)
Location: South Hall, Law School

Online registration begins February 23

Problem Solving Initiative classes are "prof pick." Apply online between
February 23 and March 9 by filling out an application here.
Questions? Contact us at problemsolving@umich.edu
The Problem Solving Initiative is a platform for the development of creative solutions to some of the world's most difficult challenges in business and society. Interdisciplinary problem solving courses give Michigan's graduate and professional students a framework for analyzing and solving complex problems and guiding organizations through innovation and change.