The fact that engineering is involved in highly political issues—from climate change caused by fossil fuel extraction to how we understand truth itself because of deepfakes—makes it imperative that we find new ways to highlight the crucial role that engineers and engineering play in shaping society, and new ways to hold engineers and engineering accountable. We have designed, built, and installed an interactive art installation called When Mental Walls Lead to Physical Walls to generate public conversation about the social responsibility of engineers and engineering, using the US-Mexico border wall as a case study. We find that the politically charged nature of the topic might make it difficult for attendees to speak directly to ideas of social responsibility. At the same time, the installation provides opportunities for attendees to question, critique, and reflect on the effectiveness and impacts of the design of the border wall and the motivations engineers might have in working on this project. With proper planning and execution, the installation can be used as a research tool to understand how diverse audiences—from engineering students to those who may not have any experience in engineering—understand the role of engineering in society.

中文翻译：

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当精神墙通向物理墙时：美墨边界墙，艺术以及关于工程社会责任的公开对话

工程涉及高度政治性的问题，从化石燃料提取引起的气候变化到我们因深造假而对真相的了解，使得我们必须找到新的方法来强调工程师和工程在塑造社会中所起的关键作用，以及使工程师和工程师承担责任的新方法。我们设计，建造并安装了一个互动艺术作品，名为“当精神墙导致物理墙时，”以美国和墨西哥的边界墙为例，引发了有关工程师和工程人员的社会责任的公众对话。我们发现，该主题的政治色彩可能会导致与会人员难以直接谈论社会责任理念。同时，安装为与会者提供了提问的机会，进行批判，并反思边界墙设计的有效性和影响以及工程师从事此项目的动机。通过适当的计划和执行，安装可以用作研究工具，以了解不同的受众（从工程学学生到可能没有工程学经验的人）如何理解工程学在社会中的作用。