CSP2036 Environmental Justice

(Formerly CVA2036)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits

The objective of this course is to understand, explore, and analyze the inequities and power dynamics associated with many types of environmental (in)justice. Depending on the instructor, the focus may be on waste and consumption; global health; city design etc. in relation to issues of justice. How can we reimagine solutions for environmental justice? By thinking critically about these issues, we will challenge our thinking about environmental justice and why it matters today and in the future.

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

LAW 3604: Environmental Law & Policy

4 Advanced liberal arts credits

This course provides an overview of environmental law - and, consistent with Babson's curricular approach, its wider context as it relates to the natural environment, society, and entrepreneurial activity. In terms of core legal content, we will focus on common law principles, federal statutes and regulatory frameworks in the United States, and aspects of other government policy that relate to the natural environment. International frameworks and treaties will be covered. Implementation and enforcement issues will also be investigated, as well as "soft law" approaches such as regulation-by-disclosure.

This course fits Babson's curricular themes such as integrated sustainability. Specifically: this course will endeavor to consider the legal content against the background of existential crises in ecosystems, and with an eye to how legal frameworks either hinder or enable entrepreneurial activity to eliminate harms cause by human activity. We will also consider the legal content as it relates to other sustainability courses, and current cases and controversies in the news.

Prerequisites: LAW 1000

HSS2040 Environmental Politics
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsEnvironmental issues are inherently multidisciplinary. They intersect with a variety of other knowledge areas, such as economics, finance, politics, and sociology. To better understand these interactions, we require the ability to think holistically. This course provides some tools that helps us understand how environmental issues are connected to a wide range of topics. It is designed for business students, and it looks at the many roles played by the private sector in environmental governance. The central part of the course focuses on political challenges related to environmental issues: Who has influence over environmental decisions? How are decisions made? How are natural resources managed? The course is organized in four building blocks: Water-Food-Energy, Environmental Governance and International Relations, Sustainable Development, and Politics of Climate Change. All of them draw on contemporary debates about global environmental politics, and each building block uses case studies to contextualize the topics under discussion.

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

SEN1314 Equine Business Management

(Senior Instructor: Elizabeth Monteith) Students in Equine Business Management will apply principles of Babson's outstanding business education to the equestrian industry. The business of horses is a diverse and historical trade, ripe for innovation that Babson entrepreneurs can provide. In this seminar, we will study competitive governing organizations (such as the United States Equestrian Federation), stables, racing syndicates, and more. Students will also be introduced to many of the equine-related jobs available to business students. No former equine experience is required, just bring your passion and willingness to learn!

Course Schedule:
Class 1 - Wednesday, January 27
Class 2 - Wednesday, February 3
Class 3 - Wednesday, February 10
Class 4 - Wednesday, February 17
Class 5 - Wednesday, February 24
Class 6 - Senior Seminar Showcase: Tuesday or Wednesday evening, 3/1 or 3/2. Details to be confirmed by first day of class.

FIN7503 Equities
3 Elective CreditsThis course will address both theoretical and practical issues that arise in equity analysis and portfolio management. Students will develop a framework for equity investing that includes idea generation, security analysis, valuation techniques (e.g. Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) and relative value analysis (COMPCO)), equity portfolio construction, and performance measurement. Equity valuation and equity portfolio management are as much art as science so the course will focus on the challenges equity professionals face in the pursuit of alpha.

Prerequisites: FIN7200, FIN7800 or MSF program

CSP2001 Introduction to Ethics

(Formerly CVA2001)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits

Discussions relate morality to the life and circumstances of contemporary society by offering a solid grounding in the major concepts of ethical theory and in the basic skills for analyzing ethical issues and making sound moral judgments.

This course is typically offered in the following semesters: Fall and Spring

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

OIM7503 Experiment to Scale
(Formerly MOB7503)
3 Elective Credits

If you took and passed MOB7503, you cannot register for OIM7503, as these two courses are equivalent

Innovators in all industries are searching for ways to bring products and services to market at an even faster pace and to scale. However, companies face a myriad of challenges that make such growth difficult, namely: environmental uncertainty, unquestioned industry standards, and seemingly stagnant organizational cultures. And while ideating and prototyping new ideas becomes more manageable for firms, bringing those ideas to scale is still elusive Experimentation has recently been revered as the way forward to address these challenges. In this course, students will study historical and more recent experimentation techniques from technology and operations management. Students will compare and contrast these techniques and apply them to a project.

ENG4615 Expository Writing

2 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

This advanced writing course has two main goals. One: reviewing the fundamentals of grammar, style, and voice will help you face future writing situations in the professional world with greater confidence. Two: expanding your repertoire of expressive choices will help you articulate ideas more clearly and will connect you more effectively with intended audiences.
This is an "expository," not a "creative" writing course, with a focus on the tasks of explanation and persuasion, and on the genre of the essay. But it will also push generic boundaries and examine the role of creativity and imagination in non-fiction prose.

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

HUM4630 Extremism: The Fanatic, The Militant, The Sectarian
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course is committed to exploring "extremism" through the formation of dangerous sects: i.e. underground movements, secret societies, forbidden associations, cult gatherings, urban gangs, martial arts orders, outlawed artistic circles, rebel cadres, and terrorist units. We will use contemporary literary works from around the world to examine the way in which these dangerous, hidden alliances experiment with ideas of concealment, seduction, power, strangeness, and sacrifice in order to create antagonistic counter-currents to everyday society. We will therefore also study the many forms that such outsider factions can take as they banish themselves and plan their hostile-ecstatic return to the surface: revolutionary, criminal, religious, mystical, magical, and avant-garde. Ultimately, this topic will allow us to penetrate one of the darker quarters of the human imagination in the modern age, following the extremist mind into its most subterranean possibilities, where a certain intense passion/hatred toward the world allows one to generate an alternative reality of the most excessive nature.

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

EPS9553 Family Business to Next Stage of Growth

1.5 CreditsMeeting Dates TBD

Drop Deadline TBD

Growth is the necessary condition for a trans-generational enterprising family. This course will explore the challenges and complexity of growth in the generational context of the family. The inflection point question, _How do we take the family business to the next stage of growth?_ requires that families discover the _power of f_ in wealth creation. The question of growth raises additional questions for reflection and conversation:

o Do you have a compelling multi-generational vision for growth?
o What is the difference between an enterprising family and traditional family business?
o What are the constraints to growth in your family business?
o How does the family context create a unique _entrepreneurship to the power of f_?
o What is your _power of f_ familiness advance performance model?
o How does your governance support or constrain growth?
o How do your planning capabilities support growth?
o How do you align the family risk profile for growth?
o What do you do if family shareholders don't want to grow (but don't know it)?
o How do you establish an ownership strategic options continuum to support growth?

The Inflection Point Question Course is a Friday/Saturday _family retreat_ format that provides personalized coaching to participants based upon their individual family cases - family members are welcome to join students. The Goal is to stimulate deeper personal and professional Reflection…facilitate peer collegial Conversation…set participants up for Collaborative decision making in the family…and lead to an action plan for Execution by the students on their goals.