KHALID KADIR
Engineering 157AC,
“Engineering, The Environment, and Society”
Before Dr. Khalid Kadir began teaching in the AC curriculum, he taught nine cohorts of students both before and after their completion of six-week poverty alleviation-related internships. Working with these students allowed him to discover the transformative potential of coursework combined with deep engagement in marginalized communities. This insight led him to create an innovative new engineering course at the intersection of environmental engineering and social justice.
Created as part of UC Berkeley’s American Cultures Engaged Scholarship Program, Engineering 157AC promotes student learning in the classroom and local communities through university-community engaged partnerships with various community-based organizations. Topics covered include environmental engineering as it relates to air, water, and soil contamination; environmental justice; race, class, and privilege; expertise; ethics; and engaged citizenship. These partnerships help students look beyond the traditional engineering methods of problem identification and solution development, processes which are in their very nature depoliticized and decontextualized.