The Blank School engages Babson community members and leads research to create entrepreneurial leaders.
HSS2010 The US in the World in the 20th Century
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsThis course explores the role of the United States throughout the world from 1900 to the present. We will investigate the people, institutions, and processes that influenced American diplomatic and military engagements, and analyze the impact and effectiveness of America's role. We will begin by exploring the emergence of America as an empire, and how American power and influence evolved and changed over the course of the century to the present day. We will explore America's role in shaping the Cold War, in particular in Latin American and the wars in Vietnam, as well as more recent engagements in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa.
Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: History and Society
- Level: Intermediate Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: HSS2010
- Number of Credits: 4
PRF1120 Theater Production Workshop
2 Free Elective CreditsThis course will center on a major collaborative project undertaken jointly by all enrolled students (as well as some students involved in an extra-curricular capacity): the rehearsal and performance of a full-length play. In the professional theater world, every production is a considerable undertaking, requiring deep collaboration among a diverse ensemble, each bringing distinctive expertise to the project. Creating a theater production is not only a rigorous intellectual and aesthetic undertaking but also one that demands the development of leadership and collaboration skills. Whether you intend to pursue a career in the arts or not, the core skills developed through this experience will be highly relevant to any professional path.
Prerequisites: None
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Arts and Humanities
- Level: Free Elective (UGrad)
- Course Number: PRF1120
- Number of Credits: 2
LTA2079 Theories of Love
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsWhat is love? Where does it come from, what does it ask of us, and how does it alter our minds, bodies, values, and relations? Are sex, friendship, and marriage necessary for love, or do they inhibit love's fullest expression? In this course, we will examine how influential writers have conceived and contested love's meanings across a range of cultural contexts. Focusing primarily on erotic love (erôs), we will consider how such meanings relate to notions of art, beauty, conjugality, legality, pleasure, sexuality, spirituality, and transgression, both in their original era and our own. Particular attention will be paid to differences of race, class, age, gender, and authority as incitements to, and/or impediments of, relations of love and eroticism.
Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Arts and Humanities
- Level: Intermediate Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: LTA2079
- Number of Credits: 4
THR4600 Contemporary Acting Techniques for the Stage: Building a Character
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsEffective theatrical performance and communication begins with focused concentration, a free and active imagination, physical poise, and a controlled voice. In this course students will hone these skills as they read, analyze, and experiment with contemporary acting strategies and methods. Students' work on the stage will be guided and grounded by careful study and consideration of acting theory and history beginning with the work of Constantin Stanislavski and continuing with the methods of late 20th century and early 21st century practitioners and directors. By course's end students will not only have an understanding of the discipline and rigor required for successful performance but will also have a theoretical understanding and tools to create compelling and viable characters for the stage and for a public audience.
Prerequisites: 3 Intermediate liberal arts courses (CVA, LVA, HSS, CSP, LTA in any combination)
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Arts and Humanities
- Level: Advanced Liberal Arts 4600 Requirement (UGrad),Advanced Elective (UGrad),Advanced Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: THR4600
- Number of Credits: 4
QTM3615 Time Series and Forecasting
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course is about the analysis of time series data in the context of various real-life forecasting situations pertaining to business and non-business areas, such as sales, banking, healthcare, sports, and global warming. The objectives of the course are: to provide practical experience with time series data to predict future outcomes; to provide a framework for comparing alternative models in terms of predictive accuracy; to cultivate an appreciation of various types of times series modeling approaches; to provide advanced exposure and experience in programming to build, test, and apply time series models; and to develop skills at communicating results effectively. The software used throughout the course will be Excel and R/RStudio. Effective teamwork and professional presentation of analyses and recommendations will be required during this course.
Prerequisites: AQM2000 or QTM2000 or permission from instructor
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Mathematics Analytics Science and Technology
- Level: Advanced Elective (UGrad),Advanced Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: QTM3615
- Number of Credits: 4
SCN3601: Triumphs and Trials of the Pharmaceutical Industry
4 advanced liberal arts credits
In 2022, the US pharmaceutical market was valued at over $1.2 trillion, forecasted to reach more than $2 trillion dollars by the year 2025. Bringing a new drug or therapeutic agent to the market is a complex process that can take upwards of a decade with a hefty price tag upwards of $2 billion dollars. The United States pharma industry spends about $60 billion yearly on drug research and development, generating approximately half of the $1.2 trillion market. As a result of this significant investment, the pharma industry has made great strides in the treatment of many diseases and developed therapies that have changed the world, including the development of antibiotics to treat infection and drugs like insulin, which have saved hundreds of thousands of lives Research, technological advances and development have led to new and innovative approaches to treat cancer, has reduced HIV infection from a 100% mortality rate to a chronic illness in the US and led to the development of a vaccine against COVID19 in record time. Despite making many significant scientific strides, public opinion of the industry is lower than ever before. It has been plagued with controversy after controversy about questionable practices including intellectual property arguments, skyrocketing costs, exorbitant executive payouts and inequitable vaccine access across the world. Additionally, a seemingly arbitrary drug pricing system and the indisputable role the pharma industry played in the opioid crisis, have fed into the significant public relations problem the industry currently faces. This course will focus on real world considerations that drive both the good and the bad of the pharmaceutical industry. We will discuss the triumphs and challenges that occur in bringing a drug from bench to bedside, and explore some of the questionable practices that have been connected to the industry. We will discuss the process and impacts of new drug development, translational medicine, and drug pricing models, investigating the ethics of balancing patient access, scientific innovation and the sustainability of a complex and often inefficient system. By the end of this course, students will appreciate the complexity of drug development system and understand the critical scientific and ethical challenges the pharmaceutical industry faces in bringing a drug to market.
Prerequisites: Any NST1XXX course
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Mathematics Analytics Science and Technology
- Level: Advanced Elective (UGrad),Advanced Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: SCN3601
- Number of Credits: 4
LTA2015 Truthful Fictions: Biographical Novel, Memoir & Biopic
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits
What do works as disparate as Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton, Spike Lee's Black KkKlansman, Maggie O'Farrell's Hamnet, Craig Gillespie's I, Tonya, and Tara Westover's memoir Educated have in common? The past two decades have produced a remarkable surge in biographical fictions (what Alain Buisine coined "biofictions" in 1991). Similarly, as three-time memoirist Mary Karr argues, memoir is in its heyday, with a massive increase in readership in the past twenty years or so. And the popularity of biopics, defined by George Custen as films "minimally composed" of a life or "portion of a life" of a real person have become a tidal wave that threatens to spill over into tsunami. What explains why "true life" stories have become the go-to dinner for fiction writers? In this course, we will explore how memory and forgetting, experience and perception, fact and invention, public and private history, personal relationships, social and political forces intersect in these popular literary and cinematic forms. We will examine the myriad ways authors and directors construct an auto/biographical self, how these may differ from the selves of lived experience, and what these forms suggests about how we navigate a world in which truth is often questioned (or even under siege) and fiction may achieve an honesty that more purportedly "truthful" narratives fail to convey.
Prerequisites: (FCI1000 or AHS1000) and (WRT1001or RHT1000)
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Arts and Humanities
- Level: Intermediate Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: LTA2015
- Number of Credits: 4
OIM3650: UI/UX Design for Web and App Development
4 advanced liberal arts credits
Are you an aspiring designer? Are you interested in more coding and development skills? Do you want to know how to make better decisions with your website, mobile apps, and more? OIM3650 takes a deep dive into user interface design for web-based projects, apps and sites. In this hands-on 14 week course, students will learn the key aspects of what makes a solid and usable interface on a desktop, tablet, and mobile device. Over the course of the semester, students will create a web-based or mobile project and continually iterate the design and interface based on feedback from fellow classmates, the professor, and self-feedback utilizing leading-edge user experience techniques and tools. This course will explore advanced techniques in cascading style sheets (CSS), as well as leverage JavaScript frameworks and libraries such as Bootstrap. As part of the course, students will learn about the principles of design, how these principles relate to solid interface design, the importance of the UI as it relates to generating and maintaining your business, and key differences between User Interface Design and User Experience (UX). The course will also introduce the concepts and tools used to make working prototypes and wireframes, including the Adobe Creative Suite, in particular Photoshop and Adobe XD. This course will underscore the importance of UI for all types of web-based projects, looking at theory as well as taking a hands-on approach. It is designed for those who are interested in how the choices you make as a designer can impact your business as well as those who are interested in taking web-based projects to the next level.
For more information about this course, please review this video: https://babson.instructuremedia.com/embed/b8eebad7-34b3-40fb-8968-435917022326
Prerequisite: OIM3690 or experience in HTML and CSS
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Operations and Information Management
- Level: Advanced Elective (UGrad),Advanced Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: OIM3650
- Number of Credits: 4
OIM3635 UI/UX Design for Web and App Development
(Formerly MIS3635 User Interface Design)
2 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits
**Student who took this as MIS3635 cannot register for this course**
OIM3635 takes a deep dive into user interface design for web-based projects, apps and sites. Students will learn the key aspects of what makes a solid and usable interface on the desktop, a tablet and a mobile device. This course will explore advanced techniques in cascading style sheets (CSS), as well as leverage JavaScript libraries such as jQuery. As part of the course, students will learn about the principles of design, how they relate to solid interface design, and the importance of the UI as it relates to generating and maintaining your business. The course will also introduce the concepts and tools to make working prototypes and wireframes using tools like Balsamiq and Lucidchart. This course will underscore the importance of UI for all types of web-based projects, looking at theory as well as taking a hands-on approach. It is designed for those that are interested in taking web-based projects to the next level as well as those that are interested in how the choices you make as a designer can affect your business.
Prerequisites: MIS3690 or MIS3640
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: Operations and Information Management
- Level: Advanced Elective (UGrad),Advanced Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: OIM3635
- Number of Credits: 2
POL4604 Understanding Political Risk
(Formerly Managing Political Risk in an Uncertain World)
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course will provide a framework of concepts and perspectives for managing political risk in an increasingly global economic environment. Issues covered include, at the international level, geopolitics, trade policies, alliances and conflicts, and, at the national level, civil conflict, regime change, and underlying sources of instability such as inequality and terrorism, as well as diverse fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies affecting property rights, industry structures, labor markets, environmental strategies, and other critical areas for business leaders. The nature of these issues and how they are addressed vary over time and across countries. This diversity of responses is shaped by history, culture, geography, and politics. This course will cover general themes, theories and approaches, while providing current analyses and insights on select issues, regions, and/or countries. Students will also have the opportunity in individual and team assignments to focus on specific issues, regions, and/or countries of their choosing, with the responsibility to share their findings with the class through discussion and presentations.
Prerequisites: 3 Intermediate liberal arts courses (CVA, LVA, HSS, CSP, LTA in any combination)
- Program: Undergraduate
- Division: History and Society
- Level: Advanced Liberal Arts 4600 Requirement (UGrad),Advanced Elective (UGrad),Advanced Liberal Arts (UGrad)
- Course Number: POL4604
- Number of Credits: 4