ART4615 Racing Towards the Future: Early 20th Century Art
(Formerly VSA4615)
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsBetween 1900 -1938, young artists grappled with enormous political, scientific, technological, and social disruptions that threw them headlong into the modern world. Styles such as Symbolism, Cubism, Futurism, Expressivism, Dada and Surrealism were their responses to changes in established ways of thinking and being that marked the beginning of the 20th century. Visits to The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Davies Museum of Wellesley College and the Fogg Museum of Harvard University, which have very strong collections from this period, will offer students the opportunity to directly experience this art.

Prerequisites: Any combination of 2 ILA (HSS, LTA, CSP, LVA, CVA)

CSP2033 Radical Politics: Thought, Action, and Culture

(Formerly CVA2033)

4 Credits

This Intermediate Liberal Arts course examines the theory, actions, claims, and artistic and cultural representations of radical political movements historically and in our time. Radical political movements seek major transformations in the way we live together. Radical movements tend to work outside and even at odds with the mainstream political process that involves political parties and elections. Through an interdisciplinary approach, this course will look at the history and contemporary forms of radical politics, read theoretical and historical works that help us understand different ways to conceptualize a "radical" approach, and assess the radical potential of artistic work. In past courses, we have examined the Alt-Right and Antifa, the Movement for Black Lives, and such Indigenous political struggles as the Standing Rock/#NoDAPL movement in the US context and the #IdleNoMore movement in the Canadian context. Movements such as these - and others such as the 2022 uprising in Iran - will likely be part of the course in Fall 2022, and I adapt course materials to allow us to analyze forms of radical politics that may well be emerging just prior to and during our semester. Other possible movements we might examine include those concerning the environment/climate change, queer struggles, radical feminism, those for and against human migration, and neo-nazi formations. Students will be encouraged to work on projects that examine historical or contemporary radical movements that are in their interest, and in the forms through which they best communicate (written, visual, audio etc). The course will focus on the North American context, but student projects and our discussions do not need to be limited to that context. The materials for this class will include historical and political scholarly analyses, journalism, documentaries, film, literature, music, podcasts, public commentary, and the narratives of activists themselves.

Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)

EPS3540 Raising Money - VC and Private Equity
4 General Credits

Students must be Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors to take this course

This class concentrates on developing a knowledge of the asset classes available for early stage and acquisition funding (both equity and debt). These include money from family and friends, angels (both individual and angel groups), VC funds, private equity, and debt from venture debt funds and special commercial banks. Much of the class is taught from the entrepreneur's perspective, but it will also cover the dynamics of starting and running a VC fund since many of the investor classes rely heavily on the VC when making investment decisions. Case material, lectures, frequent exercises/presentations and guest speakers will provide future entrepreneurs with a detailed understanding of how investors think, analyze and behave.

This understanding is critical so that entrepreneurs can understand the deals they make with investors and how to manage the process to a mutually beneficial conclusion.

Prerequisites: Sophomores, Juniors or Seniors Class standing

EPS7578 Raising Money-venture Capital and Private Equity

3 Credits

By the end of this course, students will be able:

This class concentrates on developing knowledge of the private investor markets: focusing primarily on early-stage venture capital investing (both venture capital funds and angel investors) and later stage private equity investing (buyout funds). We will examine the evolution of private investing and the development of alternative asset classes. Most of the class is taught from the entrepreneur's perspective, but we will learn the dynamics of establishing and operating an institutional VC or private equity fund. A key to successfully raising money from private investors is to understand THEIR business model and structural dynamics. Course materials provide future entrepreneurs with a detailed understanding of how private investors analyze, think and behave so that the entrepreneurs can understand the founding, fund raising and strategic assessment process of the investing entities.

The course will be taught in a BLENDED format, comprised of readings, lectures, case discussions as well as outside guest speakers (both entrepreneurs and investors). There will be weekly asynchronous assignments, two full days of face-to-face instruction and optional weekly synchronous online sessions.

Prerequisites: None

LIT 4601: Reading the City, Writing the Self: James Joyce's Dublin

4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

In this exploration of James Joyce's literary Dublin, we study Joyce's works as a springboard for your own creative non-fiction writing. This course combines expressive writing and literary analysis-and includes a week in Dublin itself!

The Irish writer James Joyce is a towering figure in world literature, a writer who pushed boundaries of both form and content. In his stirring bildungsroman Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, his sympathetic yet clear-eyed view of his hometown in the short story collection Dubliners, and his experimental and controversial epic Ulysses, Joyce captured ordinary lives in an extraordinary fashion. In this course you will read selections from all three works, exploring such themes as politics, love, and religion while simultaneously tracing the trajectory of Joyce's innovative style. Furthermore, and drawing inspiration from Joyce's narratives, you will pursue your own creative writing, as you will write personal essays remembering and reflecting upon your experiences and relationships. Finally, in the first week of the course, Dublin itself will be our classroom as we range from its museums to its pubs and traverse the same streets and parks and shores that Joyce and his characters inhabited, gaining all the while a rich and vibrant sense of the city's culture and history.

FIN3565 Real Estate Development
4 General CreditsThis course reviews the process by which value is created through real property improvement and modification. The course examines that real estate development process, exposing students to the critical steps and key decisions required to create, secure approvals, construct, lease, finance, and manage property improvements. Through case studies, related readings, and a final team project, students examine the perceived risks and potential returns of real estate development.

Prerequisites: FIN3555

FIN4571 Real Estate Finance and Advanced Modeling

4 Advanced Management Credits

This course will address the practical and theoretical issues involved in estimating cash flows and values of a wide variety real property, financial interests, investment interests and deal structures using discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques and sensitivity analyses. Students will solve real estate cash flow and DCF problems using models for property, portfolio, debt and equity interests for a variety of commercial real estate property types. Students will learn and apply the detailed modeling applications necessary to estimate both cash flows and values in the world of real estate finance and capital markets. Students will use and learn both Excel and industry standard ARGUS software applications in the process of modeling lease by lease cash flows at the property level, portfolio cash flow consolidations, related debt structures, including first mortgage and mezzanine debt, and equity waterfall structures. ARGUS is a widely accepted unique and complex modeling software that is very frequently required by employers in real estate finance. This course includes explanations of the theoretical issues and concepts involved in these practical applications. This course is intended for students who have an interest in real estate or who desire to expand their knowledge of finance to include real estate.

Prerequisites: SME2021

FIN7527 Real Estate Financial Modeling
3 Elective CreditsThis course will address the practical and theoretical issues involved in estimating cash flows and values of a wide variety real property, financial interests, investment interests and deal structures using discounted cash flow (DCF) techniques and sensitivity analyses. Students will solve real estate cash flow and DCF problems using models for property, portfolio, debt and equity interests for a variety of commercial real estate property types. Students will detailed modeling applications necessary to estimate both cash flows and values in the world of real estate finance and capital markets. Students will use and learn both Excel and industry standard software applications in the process of modelling lease by lease cash flows at the property level, portfolio cash flow consolidations, related debt structures, including first mortgage and mezzanine debt, and equity waterfall structures. This course includes explanation of the theoretical issues and concepts involved in these practical applications. This course is intended for students who have an interest in real estate or who desire to expand their knowledge of finance to include real estate.

Prerequisites: FIN7200 or FIN7800 or students enrolled in MSF

FIN3555 Real Estate Investment
4 General Elective CreditsThis course is designed for students interested in learning to evaluate real estate investment opportunities. The focus is on commercial property, not single-family homes, and on U.S. real estate. Using readings and case studies, students examine real estate as an asset class and explore its similarities and differences from other investment types. The foundation for this course involves understanding the industry terminology, legal rights and restrictions, and basic techniques for financial projections and analysis.

Expanding from this base, students explore the use of debt and the implications of taxes on real estate investment returns.

Prerequisites: SME2021

FIN7565 Real Estate Investments
(Formerly Real Estate Investment Fundamentals)
3 Elective Credits

This course provides in depth coverage of real estate investing and investment decision making for income producing properties. Topics include valuation, financing, capital markets, development and operations of income-producing real property and issues surrounding the ownership, financing and regulation of real estate. Through readings, lectures and case studies, we will explore how investors identify projects, determine value, design marketing strategies, and obtain financing in the debt and equity markets. This course will include an introduction to the value creation process of real estate development. The course will cover how investors evaluate and finance development projects. Topics include the unique debt and equity financing considerations for both income producing rental properties and for sale condominium projects. The course will also cover Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT's) as an investment vehicle.

The course will use lecture materials, case studies and an example property to illustrate key real estate investment concepts for both investing in existing properties and for developing properties.

Prerequisites: FIN7200 or FIN7800