Georgetown University’s Capitol Applied Learning Labs (CALL) will launch a new career-oriented program in Fall 2026 in partnership with the College of Arts & Sciences designed to prepare students for the workforce, the university informed students in an email March 12. 

The new program, titled “Georgetown Launchpad,” will operate as a selective cohort within the CALL and will help students translate skills from university to the workforce. The program will center on a new three-credit course called “Wicked Problems: The Human-AI Challenge Lab,” in which students will address real-world problems using artificial intelligence (AI) alongside industry professionals.

Tad Howard — associate dean for strategic integration at the Red House, Georgetown’s curriculum innovation hub — said Launchpad will bridge the gap between a liberal arts education and professional readiness. 

“A lot of students express a quiet anxiety about how to take everything they learned at Georgetown, this fabulous education they received, and make it relevant to a professional next step,” Howard told The Hoya. “We’ve always believed that there are deep connections there, and that Georgetown students had that problem.” 

The CALL is a semester-long program where students live, learn and work on Georgetown’s Capitol Campus in downtown Washington, D.C., integrating coursework with professional development, networking, and experiential learning in D.C.

Howard said Launchpad is similar to existing programs at the CALL but will place a larger emphasis on professional application.

“Launchpad, for now, is arm in arm with the CALL; the missions are very much the same,” Howard said. “The CALL has always had this professional development angle, and then Launchpad is like ‘We’re gonna do that, and we’re gonna turn it up, amplify that particular focus.’”

Dewey Murdick, a senior fellow at the Red House who will teach “Wicked Problems,” said the course will combine the efficiency of AI with human reasoning.

“Students work closely in teams with AI to define and explore some of the most critical problems of our age,” Murdick wrote to The Hoya. “They use AI to pressure test plans and simulate how a response might falter.”

“While AI helps explore complex policy rules, the final decisions always remain a human responsibility,” Murdick added.

Ayush Gupta (CAS ’27), a current CALL student, said the program will provide an easier way to develop professionally. 

“Right now, it’s up to whether you get the professional aspect out of it because it is up to you to introduce yourself to others and find an internship, whereas it seems Launchpad will naturally produce that,” Gupta told The Hoya.

Murdick said Launchpad aims to provide students with enhanced reasoning and problem-solving capabilities.

“Our goal is for students to develop a higher level of intellectual humility and a better ability to make decisions,” Murdick wrote. “This only comes from navigating problems that require repeated false starts and dead ends.”

“This process allows students to learn from others in their team as they wrestle with complex issues and competing values that matter to many different communities,” Murdick added.

Howard said the program, open to all undergraduates, will eventually be geared towards seniors.

“We don’t talk a lot about skills also in college, so skills, translation and really maximising what happens at that point of transition,” Howard said. “In this fall go round, for the very first time we’re doing it, it’s not exclusively for seniors, it’s kind of a longer range ambition.”

“We think this could be a really interesting fourth-year possibility, but just to make sure we jump off, just catch students when they’re interested,” Howard added.

Murdick said the program will allow students to apply their skills to real-world problems.

“The student who gets the most out of Launchpad is the one looking to test their liberal arts education in a real professional setting, on real challenges,” Murdick wrote. “They will walk away with a long-term experience working on difficult strategic problems. They also gain direct exposure to how industry leaders think about these challenges.”

CORRECTION: This article was updated March 19 to reflect the College of Arts & Science’s role in Georgetown Launchpad.