SCN3630 Economics Botany
Advanced Liberal ArtsThis course will investigate the relationship between plants and society. Without plants and plant products humans would be hungry, naked, and lacking oxygen to breath. We will begin by exploring the basics of different plant parts and how plants grow and reproduce. We will then examine plants as sources of food, materials, perfumes, drugs, and medicines. Throughout the course we will discuss the role plants have played in influencing economics, language, politics, and religion. Current topics of particular interest for this course include the debate over genetically engineered crops, the development of new pharmaceutical medicines, the changes in human diet, and the use of plant products in new technologies. This course will emphasize the development of skills in critical thinking, synthesis of information, science literacy, hand-on exercises, and current topical issues in plant biology.

Prerequisites: NST I

NST1030 Electronics
4 Foundation Liberal Arts CreditsElectronic devices transform the way people work and communicate. This course will focus on understanding the inner workings of those devices to provide a background on what they can and cannot do. We will also explore the impact of resource limitations on electronics, and how electronics can contribute to solving some resource issues.

Prerequisites: None

NST1020 Energy and the Environment
4 CreditsAs the world's current energy demand continues to rise, it is critical to understand the causes, impacts, and possible solutions to our current global energy crisis. This course will focus on the technologies associated with renewable forms of energy and their potential for future success.

Prerequisites: None

FIN3560 Financial Markets and Instruments

4 General Elective Credits

This course provides students with an understanding of many important financial instruments and the financial markets in which they trade. The topics covered include the major financial markets and their associated structures, quantitative techniques for valuing various financial securities and their cash flow streams, and factors affecting interest rates. This course also provides an introduction to derivatives and risk management. Topics include: instruments/markets, bond markets, equity markets, security firms and investment banks, issuing securities, organized exchanges, bond and stock valuation, interest rate determination (term structure), bond duration, foreign exchange, mortgages, risk management, an introduction to derivatives (including options, futures, and swaps), pay off profiles and an introduction to Black-Scholes.

Prerequisites: SME2021 or FIN2000

QTM3625 Financial Modeling Using Simulation and Optimization with Applications to Finance, Marketing, and Management
4 Advanced Liberal Arts CreditsThis course is an introduction to quantitative techniques that enable marketing, finance, and management professionals to make optimal decisions under uncertainty. While theoretical background for these techniques is provided, the focus is on their applications and mastering software that is widely used in industry, such as Excel, Solver, @RISK, and MATLAB. Topics include simulation of important probability distributions, bootstrapping, random walks, linear and nonlinear optimization. Lectures draw on examples such as asset allocation under different definitions of risk; index tracking; scenario approaches to project and portfolio management; hedging and arbitrage; and derivative pricing.

Prerequisites: QTM1010 or AQM2000

FIN4505 Financial Trading Strategies and Risk Management
4 General CreditsIn this course, students learn to develop and implement institutional (firm-level) financial trading strategies. These strategies are guided by quantitative models that identify, quantify, and manage risks and expected return. In so doing, students learn how to make decisions in an uncertain environment. The course is based on an experiential learning approach, in which trading simulation software provides a platform for delivering learning-by-doing cases. Specific cases covered in the course include: agency trading; principal (liability) trading; algorithmic market making; managing risk capital with value-at-risk; transportation, storage, and production arbitrage in commodity futures markets; and agricultural hedging. The course also covers fundamental concepts in market microstructure, such as bid-ask spreads, price discovery, information asymmetry, liquidity, and inventory risk.

Prerequisites: SME2021 or FIN2000

FIN3535 Financing and Valuing Sustainability
4 General CreditsThis course will examine the intersection of sustainability, corporate social responsibility and socially responsible investing with the traditional theories and tools of finance. Students will learn to describe the sustainability landscape and then analyze sustainable technologies, strategies, and business models from the perspective of managers, entrepreneurs, and investors. Basic financial tools such as discounted cash flow, capital budgeting, capital structure, and risk/return will be used to evaluate the feasibility and financial implications of sustainable products and practices in a variety of industries and applications. Students will learn how to balance the needs of all stakeholders in organizations to create both financial and social value.

Prerequisites: SME2021 Finance

FIN3502 FinTech
4 Advanced Management Credits

The financial services industry is changing rapidly with the emergence of financial technology (FinTech). This course is designed to introduce key financial technology and its applications in financial services. Students will develop a broad and solid understanding of the recent innovations in FinTech, and their benefits and limitations. Students will also have hands-on problem-solving experiences that are useful in the FinTech venture. Ultimately, this course aims to help students identify entrepreneurial opportunities in FinTech and equip them with relevant knowledge and skills. The course will use a mixture of lectures, hands-on programming, case studies, guest speakers, and group projects. This course emphasizes and builds on Entrepreneurial Thought & Action, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the context of the financial services industry.

Learning objectives for this course:
- Understand key financial technology, including artificial intelligence (AI) & machine learning (ML) & natural language processing (NPL), blockchain & cryptocurrency, smart contract & ethereum. Develop relevant programing skills.
- Explore recent innovations in the financial services industry, including payment, credit, capital markets, insurance, SMB, and real estate.
- Assess the value creation of FinTech. Analyze the limitations and challenges of FinTech (e.g., inclusion, regulation)
- Identify entrepreneurial opportunities in the FinTech space. Propose a FinTech startup idea and develop a business plan.

Evaluation of undergraduate program learning goals:
- Collaboration: Students will work in teams to prepare for the final project report and presentation.
- Communication: The course will be highly interactive. Students need to actively participate in case studies and guest lectures. The final project will require students to pitch a startup idea both through a written report and a presentation. The quality of the written project and oral presentation will be used as a key evaluation criterion.
- Problem-Solving: Students will develop problem-solving skills through hands-on programming and assignments, case studies, and final projects. Students will be able to apply knowledge and skills learned from this course to identify real opportunities and challenges in the FinTech industry, propose new startup ideas, and develop business plans.

Prerequisites: SME2021

FIN4535 Fixed Income and Structured Products

4 General CreditsThis advanced quantitative course is designed for students interested in the sales and trading of fixed income securities and their related structured products, as well as students interested in fixed income portfolio management. Topics covered include: (i) bond pricing and day count conventions; (ii) relative value and yield curve construction; (iii) duration and convexity; (iv) pricing and hedging of interest rate swaps; (v) Treasury bond futures, conversion factors, and the concepts of cheapest-to-deliver and implied repo; (vi) the repo (GC and special) market; (vii) credit risk and the pricing of high yield bonds and credit default swaps; and (viii) securitization, mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized mortgage obligations. Course enrollment will be limited to enable extensive in-class usage of Bloomberg and other Cutler Center resources.

Prerequisites: SME2021

AQM1000 Foundations of Business Analytics
4 Foundation Liberal Arts Credits

The course introduces the necessary quantitative methods that are prerequisites to follow-on courses in AQM and in Babson's integrated core business offerings. Statistical software and the use of spreadsheets are integrated throughout so that students better appreciate the importance of using modern technological tools for effective model building and decision-making. The initial third of the course focuses on basic frequentist statistical methods, their conceptual underpinning, such as variability and uncertainty, and their use in the real world. Topics include data visualization, data collection, descriptive statistics, elementary probability rules and distributions, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. The remainder of the course is dedicated to decision-making problems in a managerial context using algebraic, spreadsheet, graphical, and statistical models. Topics include introductions to linear regression, time series analysis, and simulation. The course emphasizes the effective communication of quantitative results through written, visual, and oral means.