First-Year Students Inspired by the Intersection of Business and the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Students share their takeaways from Matthew Desmond’s discussion on how to combat poverty in America.
A Liberal Arts and Sciences Foundation for Business and Beyond
Babson’s curriculum recognizes the deep value of liberal arts at an undergraduate business school. By blending courses in business fundamentals with the liberal arts and sciences, we deliver a well-rounded educational experience that will prepare you to be an informed and responsible global citizen.
We require our students to take courses in the liberal arts and sciences throughout their time at Babson so that they can build critical thinking and communication skills for the modern world. Our core courses in the liberal arts complement the knowledge and experiences you’ll gain through learning business fundamentals, giving you the chance to see how the business world is intertwined with society and the natural world. In turn, our general education in the liberal arts and sciences gives you the opportunity to infuse new perspectives not just in your core business courses, but in your relationship with the world.
Core Requirements in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Successful business and entrepreneurial leaders are not only able to act, but also create and engage with the world in innovative ways. Babson’s core requirements in the liberal arts and sciences help you to develop frameworks for understanding the world that you’ll contribute to, impact, and conduct business in.
We want the world to be better. We’re trying to teach students to think in terms of these systems, so they can make it better.”
Professor Marjorie Feld
History and Society Division
By practicing writing and research in a range of academic disciplines, Babson students develop strong communication and critical thinking skills that will benefit them not only as business leaders, but as people. Our talented faculty facilitate students’ capacity to understand different societies and cultures, artistic expressions, and scientific processes in ways that allow them to reflect on subjects within and outside of themselves. With the liberal arts and sciences providing frameworks for understanding complex global challenges, you also will emerge with a better understanding of how to wield business and entrepreneurship as a positive engine for change.
Explore Our Core Courses in the Liberal Arts and Sciences
Babson students are expected to take liberal arts and sciences courses at the foundation, intermediate, and advanced levels. You’ll continue to take both liberal arts and business courses throughout your academic journey and at increasingly higher levels of sophistication, emerging with a holistic education that is invaluable to the modern business professional. Explore the courses you’ll be taking throughout your Babson journey below.
Foundation Courses
Babson’s foundation courses in the liberal arts and sciences establish essential skills and intellectual standards for a student’s development throughout their four years at Babson. The foundation courses focus on building communication and critical thinking skills that are applicable to professional and other endeavors.
- Writing Across Contexts (WRT 1001)
- Foundations of Critical Inquiry (FCI 1000)*
- Natural Science and Technology (NST 10XX) course requirement*
*You may select one of several courses to fulfill this requirement.
Highlighted Courses
Intermediate Courses
Intermediate courses in the liberal arts and sciences allow students to become familiar with a number of frameworks and to explore the themes, issues, and questions that were introduced and explored in the first year. As you begin to gain confidence in your knowledge and skills, you’ll also be able to tailor your classes to your interests. You'll get the opportunity to select which course you’ll take to fulfill requirements in History and Society, Literary and Visual Arts, Culture and Values, and Socio-Ecological Systems.
- Socio-Ecological Systems (SES 2000)*
- Predictive Business Analytics (AQM 2000)
- Research Writing (WRT 2000)
- History and Society (HSS 20XX)*
- Literature and the Arts (LTA 20XX)*
- Cultural Studies and Philosophy (CSP 20XX)*
*You may select one of several course options to fulfill this requirement.
Highlighted Courses
Advanced Courses
Our advanced courses in the liberal arts and sciences allow you to explore topics that you’re interested in with depth and creativity. In addition to participating in an intensive seminar in your advanced liberal arts coursework, your classroom experience will come alive through hands-on learning opportunities, such as simulations, or activism and service projects in the Greater Boston area.
- Advanced Liberal Arts Course (46XX)*
- 3 Advanced Liberal Arts Electives*
- Advanced Experiential Course*
*You may select one of several courses to fulfill this requirement.
Highlighted Courses
Continue to Grow Your Interests at Babson
Babson is home to well-rounded students from around the world who arrive here with a multitude of passions and interests they’re eager to explore. Our liberal arts and sciences courses allow students to explore and discover a wide range of interests, which you can continue to build upon through your curricular and extracurricular pursuits. Our students find natural intersections between concepts learned through business fundamentals and the liberal arts and sciences, and explore these intersections through business innovation and entrepreneurship.
- We offer an extensive catalog of liberal arts and sciences courses that support students’ academic exploration of a wide variety of topics, but it doesn’t stop there. Babson students also can opt to take courses at Wellesley College and the F.W. Olin College of Engineering through our Three-College Collaboration.
- Apply to the Babson Honors Program and take on a research project that showcases the versatility of your Babson business degree. Honors students at Babson have independently researched topics ranging from pop music to the evolution of beauty standards to public education in India.
- Step outside the classroom, and participate in creative workshops and programming through BabsonARTS, where you can foster further connections between creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
- Unleash your creativity at the Weissman Foundry, a state-of-the-art makerspace where you’ll have opportunities to learn, create, and collaborate with faculty and peers.
Get Inspired
Our courses in the liberal arts and sciences can help open doors in your approach to business and the world around you.
See how past and present students have relied on knowledge and themes from the liberal arts and sciences to incorporate Babson’s core educational themes of entrepreneurship, diversity and inclusion, global perspectives, and sustainability into their academic and extracurricular endeavors.
Art and Soul: The Impact of the Sorensons’ Commitment
With the enduring commitment and support of the Sorenson family, the arts occupy a unique place at Babson.
How One Student Drives Real Change Through Sustainability
From small steps to long-term solutions, Natalie Chong ’25 champions initiatives to demonstrate how sustainability and entrepreneurship can coexist.
An Activist, Entrepreneurial Leader, and Even a Poet: Meet Demarre Johnson ’24
Demarre Johnson ’24 viewed his opportunity to be the student speaker for Babson’s celebration of Juneteenth as a moment to educate his community peers about the holiday and the oppression that minorities face.
Fueled by Love of Art, Babson Student Finds Novel Application for NFTs
Magnus Aske ’23 found a way to combine his love of art and entrepreneurship and came up with a project involving the antiquities collection of a foreign country.
Storytelling for Social Justice in Flint and Beyond
Melissa Denizard ’20, both a Natalie Taylor Scholar and a Frank & Eileen™ Institute for Women and Allies Scholar at Babson, fell in love with filmmaking in high school.
