FLM4671 Comic Form in Film
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course explores the history and theory of comic form as it applies to movies from the silent film era to the present. Beginning with silent comedies and progressing to more recent films, we will consider such topics as comedy's roots in ancient ritual; recurring comic character types and genre conventions; irony, satire, anarchy, and surrealism as comic principles; and dark comedy. Course readings will introduce students to narrative theories, aesthetic and philosophical questions, and analytical models that address the purposes and strategies of comic form.

Prerequisites: 3 Intermediate liberal arts (CVA, LVA, HSS, CSP, LTA in any combination)

SEN1317 Communicate with Intention: Effective Use of Technology and Social Media for Aspiring Leaders(Senior Instructor: Josuel Plasencia) Leaders are characterized by their ability to think quickly, sometimes with few resources. Furthermore, in their communications, they must address multiple audiences, a tremendous challenge with the myriad other activities entrepreneurial leaders need to undertake. In _Communicate with Intention: Effective use of technology and social media for aspiring leaders,_ we will take a hands-on approach to practice the fast, flexible communication skills of successful entrepreneurial leaders. Through case studies, we will learn how to position ourselves through technology to create a personal brand and social networks online that lead to real results (a new job, an internship, a sale, a connection). We will use an individualized, interactive approach to analyze and enhance each student's communication strategy and online presence. The course will also argue that there is not one best approach to communications, and the instructor welcomes new ideas from students to shape the course.

Course Schedule:
Class 1 - Wednesday, Feb 1
Class 2 - Wednesday, Feb 8
Class 3 - TBD. Due to instructor conflict, an alternative date for this class will be selected.
Class 4 - Wednesday, Feb 22
Class 5 - Wednesday, March 1
Class 6/Showcase - Wednesday, March 8 (6 - 7:30)

Senior-Led Seminars are free, non-credit courses that are taught by seniors at Babson. They are graded non-credit pass or fail (NCP or NCF) and will appear on your transcript at the end of the semester. These courses are made possible by a generous gift of the Donald W. White, Sr. '50 Family.

COM7503 Communicating and Collaborating in Virtual Teams

3 Elective CreditsIn this fully online course, students will learn how to successfully collaborate and communicate in virtual teams. Students will begin by reading and discussing course readings on organizational and global communication; virtual communication; and theoretical frameworks of the use of AI technologies in order to build a working knowledge of current collaboration technologies and effective communication in different contexts. Using this knowledge as a backdrop, students will explore and analyze the impact that these technologies have on business and communication. Students will apply their communication knowledge to a practical experience with existing virtual collaboration tools through shorter group assignments, guest speakers, interviews with remote workers, and a longer writing and oral presentation final project.

During the course, students will be expected to hold virtual class and group meetings, use and evaluate collaboration and project management tools, reflect on their virtual communication and leadership experiences, lead weekly remote group work, and write a final professional research report analyzing the communicative and collaborative effectiveness of state-of-the-art technology used in today's corporate environment.

Prerequisites: None

MKT3501 Communicating for Consumer Behavior Change
4 Free Elective CreditsIn this course, students learn and draw upon interdisciplinary theories in psychology, marketing and persuasion/influence to explore the nature of behavioral change at the individual, consumer and societal levels. Centered around a major social marketing project, students will test theories of persuasive communication and choice architecture to explore how to use the knowledge of human experience to shape behavior for social good.

Prerequisites: None

COM3504 Communicating in Global Virtual Teams
(Formerly MOB3504)
4 Advanced Management CreditsIf you took and passed MOB3504, you cannot register for COM3504, as these two courses are equivalent

In this course, students will learn how to successfully engage, collaborate and communicate in global virtual teams. Students will begin by reading and discussing assigned course reading on global communication, virtual collaboration, organizational communication, and writing in groups in preparation for a major cross-institutional global project.

In collaboration with Marshall School of Business at USC, students will participate in the 6-week global Virtual Business Professional (VBP), project, which puts students in diverse international teams using Slack's communication platform to complete a written social media assessment project for Google, Amazon, or Starbucks. At the conclusion of the project, faculty teaching in the program will choose the best report for each company. Google, Amazon, and Starbucks are partnering with the project and a representative from each company will pick one of the three winners.

Students will be expected to hold virtual meetings, use project management tools, create online presentations, and write a final report using state-of-the-art technology used in today's corporate environment. The VBP project runs from approximately week 4 to week 9 of the academic semester. During this time, class work will include discussing experiences working in the project, identifying and considering shared challenges, and engaging with scholarly and popular reading that can help students in the project.

Prerequisites: None

SEN1319 Communicating Business in a Tech Environment(Senior Instructor: Upasana Roy) This course focuses on using core business skills in a tech setting. Working in a technology-fueled environment, it is sometimes hard to communicate the value you can bring from a business sector. If you don't have proficiency in coding or computer science, it should not stop you from succeeding in a tech marketing or product management role. This course incorporates business analytics, design thinking, enterprise sales solutions and growth hacking. We will use presentation and data visualization skills to appeal to internal and external technically savvy stakeholders. Through guest speakers, simulations and articles we will explore the methods to create business value and communicate it in a high-functioning technology environment.

Course Schedule:
Class 1 - Wednesday, Jan 31
Class 2 - Wednesday, Feb 7
Class 3 - Wednesday, Feb 14
Class 4 - Wednesday, Feb 21
Class 5 - Wednesday, Feb 28
Class 6/Showcase - Wednesday, March 7

Senior-Led Seminars are free, non-credit courses that are taught by seniors at Babson. Upon successful completion of a seminar, students will receive a grade of non-credit pass (NCP) and the course will appear on your transcript at the end of the semester. These courses are made possible by a generous gift of the Donald W. White, Sr. '50 Family.

POL4645 Comparative Latin American Politics
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits

Comparative politics is a core subfield of Political Science and International Relations. The study of comparative politics has a lively and engaging body of scholars who are dedicated to understanding the potentials and limitations of democracy. The field has developed many interesting areas of research focusing on the comparison of political systems, national institutions, gender rights, environmental issues, and economic development.

This is an advanced level course, focused on contemporary Latin American politics. The course begins with an introduction to theories and methods of comparative politics, and a brief overview of basic concepts in political science such as different forms of government, electoral systems, and democratic systems. The course then discusses six central themes in comparative politics in Latin America: Party Systems and Political Representation, Economic Development and Inequality, Environmental Policies, Gender Policies, Regional Migration, and Foreign Relations. In each of these six themes, we will use cases from various Latin American countries for an in-depth discussion.

Prerequisites: 3 Intermediate liberal arts courses (CVA, LVA, HSS, CSP, LTA in any combination)

HSS2033 Comparative Politics
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsComparative politics is a field that seeks to understand political dynamics within states and to understand a variety of political phenomena common in many countries. This course will use such cases as Britain, France, Russia, China, Iran, India, and Brazil to look at issues of nationalism, economic policies, institutional design, development, and social change. Comparative Politics is also characterized by a methodology that seeks to illuminate the reasons for similarities and differences across countries and provide some tools to think more critically about various political claims and proposals.

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

OIM9530 Competing on Analytics
(Formerly MIS9530)
1.5 Intensive Elective Credits

If you took and passed MIS9530, you cannot register for OIM9530, as these two courses are equivalent

Meeting Dates TBD
Drop Deadline TBD

McKinsey Global Institute is predicting a shortage of over a million managers and analysts with the analytics know-how to make effective decisions. In this course, you will learn about some of the most important analytics-related trends, how enterprises and entire industries are being transformed by analytics, and how to build a competitive data strategy and team. We will also discuss various approaches and tools for analyzing structured and unstructured data.

To complement our strategy discussion, we will explore some popular business intelligence tools. You will have the opportunity to get "hands-on" with a few of these tools.

The highlight of this course will be an industry-specific team project employing concepts and best practices discussed in class.

Note (1): If you have professional analytics experience, please contact the professor in advance of registering to assure alignment with your interests and needs.

Note (2): You will need a reasonably current PC or Mac. Mac users will need to download an app from the Apple AppStore. Details will be provided in advance of class.

OIM3600: Computer Science for Business Students

4 advanced liberal arts credits

This course, Introduction to Computer Science for Business Students, is designed for business students who are interested in learning about the fundamental concepts of computer science. The course covers a wide range of topics including hardware, the internet, programming in Scratch and Python, basic algorithms, web development using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, SQL, and Flask. In addition, the course also covers important concepts in cybersecurity. Throughout the course, students will work on multiple projects including a final capstone project that integrates and applies the knowledge and skills learned in the previous sessions. Group work and projects are significant elements of the course, as students will have the opportunity to collaborate and learn from each other in a team setting. By the end of the course, students should have a strong foundation in computer science and be able to apply these concepts in a business context.

Prerequisites: None