About the CoLab
The CoLab at Swarthmore’s Lang Center is a collaborative space that enables Swarthmore community members to combine their passion for making change with the tools and skills needed to achieve it. It offers resources, workshops, and training in project design/development/implementation (and systems thinking) and connects students with community partners for impactful, real-world projects. Through immersive learning tools like VR/360 experiences, the CoLab deepens students' understanding of complex social issues.
The CoLab is home to the growing number of Engaged Scholarship and action-orientated programs within Swarthmore College, including the Social Innovation Lab.
Workshops & Training
The CoLab offers toolkits/frameworks to support your project at any stage—whether you're exploring ideas, defining your project, engrossed in the work, or executing it. Schedule a short meeting with Lang Center staff to discuss where you are in your thinking, and we'll provide tailored advice, guidance, and relevant resources.
Here is a sample of available toolkits and frameworks at the CoLab:
a) Framework for Selecting a Project,
b) Impact Gaps Analysis,
c) Stakeholder & Community Partner Assessment,
d) Systems Mapping,
e) Rapid Prototyping,
f) Project Planning,
g) Action Plan + Timeline.
We offer both scheduled workshops and the flexibility for students to set up meetings anytime to discuss their ideas and projects.
Systems Thinking for Social Change: Every Fall, the CoLab runs a five-session module on Systems Thinking for Social Change, offering an opportunity for participants to learn how to analyze and map systems. Systems Thinking is an approach to understanding any issue's complex, interconnected forces. Rather than focusing on isolated parts, systems thinking encourages looking at the whole picture -- how different elements interact and influence one another, and create patterns. This approach allows you to identify root causes rather than symptoms, recognize leverage points where small changes/actions lead to significant outcomes, and design sustainable and meaningful projects.
These workshops and modules are primarily designed for students. Click here for a sample of a systems map produced at the end of the module and a story on the College's website about Oxford's Map the System competition, which Swarthmore students participated in.
Please contact Nimesh Ghimire (nghimir1) if you are a Swarthmore faculty, staff, or community partner interested in these workshops.
Project Development: Reserve the CoLab Space
Members of the Swarthmore community are now welcome to reserve the CoLab space for collaborative work. The CoLab consists of a porch, a barn, and a kitchen. It has mobile and stationary whiteboards, a projector, a prototyping station and materials cart, and a nearby kitchen with water, tea, and coffee.
Reservations can be made directly through Google Calendar by those with Swarthmore credentials. Type “CoLab - Porch” or “Co-Lab - Barn” on the “meet with” tab on the GCal page; you should get automatic confirmation of the reservation. Please get in touch with Lang Center (langcenter@swarthmore.edu) if you encounter any issues.
The Co-Lab Kitchen space is first-come, first-served.
Virtual Reality (VR)/360 Immersive Learning
The CoLab uses VR/360 immersive experiences to give students a more in-depth understanding of social issues. Through the Oculus Quest 2 headset, students can explore curated VR/360 video content highlighting different social challenges and contexts, allowing them to understand better (and subsequently engage in) various facets of pressing social issues.
We invite you to visit Lang Center and experience—through the Oculus Quest 2 headset—any of the VR/360 immersion videos from this list curated by the Lang Center. You can book a 30 minute slot here.
