LTA 2007: Out of the Mouths of...Children Narrators

4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits

Children's minds work differently from those of adults; it's the way they make sense of the world, the way a child's own small world is the whole world and, at the same time, an ever-evolving concept, as they learn and grow and change. They understand and react instinctively. This can result in thoughts and actions that are both naïve and profound, innocent and wise, non-sensical and brilliant. And even when they don't (or can't) understand sophisticated issues, they remain keen observers. At Babson, there's a great deal of emphasis in thinking about your future self, the person you will be in five years or in twenty years. Clearly, that has value. But this course asks if there is also benefit in looking to the past. Through our texts and discussions, we will look at the ways we look at the world as children, the ways our perceptions change as we grow older, and the ways in which that evolution is both positive and negative.

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

ART1200 Painting Through Poetry

4 Free Credits

Artists have long produced work in conversation with others in their communities. This exchange is particularly vital and enduring among painters and poets. In this course, we will trace the relationships of contemporary and historical practitioners. With poems as our prompts, we will explore painting as a visual language that is fundamentally relational. Through a series of visual experiments, from painting to collage, we will interrogate the relationship between parts and wholes, representation and abstraction, text and image. We will consider moments in which language constrains meaning while painting expands it and vice versa. Together, through making, we will uncover questions, generate ideas, and apply the specificity of poetry to the space of painting.

Prerequisites: None

NST1080 Paradigms of Scientific Invest
4 Foundations Liberal Arts Credits

A multidisciplinary examination of the principles of scientific research and routes to discovery with examples from the history of the subject from its Greek beginnings to modern times. The course will provide insight into the sources, motivations, and methods of approach utilized by the developers of modern science. Topics from biology, physics, and engineering will be used to discover how we unravel the mysteries of the natural world and address the question of how do we know what we know is true by critically examining how the science community has resolved conflicting interpretations of the natural world and analyzing the consequent paradigm shifts from previously accepted theories. These concepts will be applied to addressing societal challenges in developing a national science policy, why things go wrong and mitigating man-made disasters. Finally, the real-world utility of these concepts is applied to applications within an entrepreneurship context in terms of evaluating and managing technology ventures.

Prerequisites: None

SEN1350 Passport to 3-Day Weekends!

Instructor: Sarah Yang

With Babson's unique 3-day weekend schedule, students have the opportunity to explore the world beyond the classroom. This course will equip you with the essential skills to plan and execute unforgettable 3-day weekend getaways, both domestically and internationally. Through interactive workshops and hands-on activities, you'll learn the arts of budgeting, finding affordable ways to travel, crafting efficient itineraries, and navigating the complexities of international travel. Leveraging Babson's resources and the instructor's personal travel experience, you'll discover hidden gems. In class sessions, students will create a capstone presentation planning all the logistics of a successful weekend trip, useful for their next adventure. *No actual travel is included in this course.

CSP2055 Peoples and Cultures of the Americas

(Formerly CVA2055)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts Credits

This course looks at the Peoples and Cultures and Cultures of Latin America from within. The course covers topics such as resistance movements against dictatorships, feminist movements, Indigenous and environmental movements, racial and social justice movements. These issues are presented from the perspective of those on the ground, actively engaged with pushing for social movements that shape these countries.

What do we need to pay attention to when we are trying to understand Latin America? What are the forces that shape the region? These very complex questions should not be reduced to simple answers. However, the dynamics in Latin American countries (as well as elsewhere) are in large part a result of contentious processes between those that are trying to control the state and those trying to change it. The mainstream narrative about the history and politics of Latin America explains the region from the perspective of those who have access to the means of power, and have more leverage on how national states are governed. This is, though, only part of what we need to keep in mind. It is crucial to inquire into the movements that push against these dominant forces and narratives. This course invites students to investigate the social processes carried out by those who are often forgotten. Although frequently ignored, the consequences of these dynamics are constitutive of Latin America. This is an intermediate course designed to provide business students with the necessary tools to understand and engage with peoples and cultures of the region.

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

CSP2035 Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East

(Formerly CVA2035)
4 Intermediate Liberal Arts CreditsWhile the Middle East continues to dominate Western foreign policy concerns and is a focus of Western media, understanding of this region is often based on stereotypes that do not consider the everyday lives of Middle Eastern people, and that do not attempt to differentiate between peoples of this region. This course will introduce several groups and cultures of the Middle East in detail, while focusing on thematic topics that are of particular interest to current world events. A brief survey of the history and geography of the region will be followed by more in-depth study of topics such as political Islam, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, the war in Afghanistan, gender and sexuality, and human rights issues. The course will be highly interactive, and will make frequent use of documentaries, movies, literature, and current news events as well as anthropological and ethnographic material.

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

LIT4610 Performing Social Class
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis 4-credit course employs gamified pedagogy to explore the multifarious ways that social class functions. Students will read texts that explore the issues of class consciousness, class performance, classism, and cross-class communication; act in in-class simulations of events that reveal the ways that social class operates; and write character biographies, scripts and analytical reflections. Simulations will include school events, job interviews, holiday celebrations, and more. Readings will be drawn from both nonfiction (from fields such as sociology, economics and cultural studies) and fiction (primarily short stories and excerpts from novels and plays). The overarching objective will be for students to become aware of the often-invisible ways that social class operates in daily life. In a global society that is marked by increasing socioeconomic disparity, it is especially important for students to become critical thinkers about social class.

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

FIN2520 Personal Finance
4 General CreditsThis course teaches students to negotiate the retail financial landscape, emphasizing issues that have a large impact on their future financial well-being. It assumes no financial knowledge other than first-year finance. The course covers topics such as understanding and appreciating the time value of money, the financial planning process, financing the purchase of a house and other consumer loans, saving for retirement and other goals, selecting a financial advisor, taxes, estate planning, behavioral finance and common investment scams. Specific investment products studied include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, municipal bonds, alternative investments (including hedge funds, private equity funds, and commodities), annuities, and insurance products. Consideration will be given to the problem of an entrepreneur or start-up employee who has a substantial fraction of personal wealth invested in a single business venture, including evaluating stock-and option-based compensation plans. Over the duration of the course, students will work to develop a personal financial plan.

Prerequisites: SME2021

FIN7519 Personal Financial Management
3 Elective CreditsThis course teaches students to negotiate the retail financial landscape, emphasizing issues that have a large impact on their future financial well-being. It assumes no finance knowledge other than first-year finance. The course covers topics such as selecting a financial adviser, financing the purchase of a house, college saving, retirement saving, behavioral finance, trusts, and investment frauds and scams. Specific investment products studied include mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, municipal bonds, emerging markets, alternative investments (including hedge funds, private equity funds, and commodities), annuities, and insurance products. Consideration will be given to the problem of an entrepreneur or start-up employee who has a substantial fraction of personal wealth invested in a single business venture, including evaluating stock- and option-based compensation plans. Over the duration of the course, students may work to develop a personal financial plan for themselves, or if they prefer, for a fictional person with a defined set of financial traits.

Prerequisites: None but it is recommended that students take FIN7200 or FIN7800 first

MSA6600 Personal Project
6 Credits (MSAEL Core)This course bridges key MSAEL Program learnings into demonstrated application, by delivering real Project impact, while enhancing the ability to mobilize others to drive organizational growth and renewal. With Faculty coaching each student will identify, in alignment with their work stakeholders, a specific challenge or opportunity at their organization. Clear Learning Plan frameworks, built on Project Management under Uncertainty principles, will be used to frame their project considering stakeholder needs, potential resistance to change, benefits of implementation and leadership challenges (self, others, organization). Their Entrepreneurial Leadership Project Action Plan, with relevant Analytics, will be reviewed for progress through ongoing check-points with Faculty, and key stakeholders inside their organization. By the end of this Capstone course, the student successfully implements a measurable pilot solution and a plan for further actions.