Whether you're interested in cities, infrastructure, public policy, engineering systems, or social justice, Integrating Sociology in Technology, Engineering and Policy (INSTEP) offers students an opportunity to critically engage with and help shape the future of mobility at UMD and beyond.

INSTEP is an interdisciplinary project that critically examines the sociotechnical systems of transportation and infrastructure at the University of Maryland and their entanglements with surrounding communities. Anchored around the anticipated arrival of the Purple Line in 2027, this project explores how large-scale transit development reshapes not only campus mobility, but also broader social, economic, and cultural dynamics including housing, commerce, and community life.

Students will investigate how infrastructure is never just technical, but deeply political and social. To investigate this, the INSTEP team will engage in stakeholder mapping to understand the diverse perspectives of students, staff, faculty, local residents, campus leadership and transit authorities. Through interviews, policy analysis, and field-based observations, students will explore issues of accessibility, sustainability, safety, and equity. Particular attention will be given to tensions between institutional visions of mobility and the lived, everyday practices of campus users—especially as they relate to disability, class, employment, and inclusion.

This project adopts a longitudinal approach, capturing data before and after the Purple Line’s implementation. In doing so, students will examine how visions of transportation futures are created, implemented, resisted, or transformed over time and whether policy interventions meaningfully contribute to more equitable and sustainable infrastructure systems.