New Courses Underway at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business
The UC Berkeley Haas School of Business has a lot of exciting things going on this fall, from new courses covering social networks, online learning, and women in business, to a slew of industry leaders coming in to speak both inside the classrooms and out.
Here’s a glimpse of what’s underway this term:
The Economics of Social and Other Networks—Visiting from NYU Stern School of Business, Haas alumnus Nicholas Economides’s courses for Full-Time, Evening, and Weekend MBA students will analyze a wide variety of networks, from Facebook and Twitter to cable TV, banking, and the Internet, and develop an understanding of competition within and across platforms.
Money and Meaning: Sourcing Capital for Social Enterprises—Professors Jennifer Walske and Esther Park offer a class and practicum all in one in this new social finance course. After learning about the social finance process from cases and speakers, student teams will identify and recommend an investment idea to a panel of impact investors, which will include Brian Trelstad, a leader in the socially responsible investment world.
Haas is among six business schools working with Trelstad to create a national network of MBA students to source and complete due diligence on potential early-stage regional and national investments, the school reveals. Haas is the only school in the network, which also includes Harvard Business School and Wharton School, to structure its participation as a course rather than an investing club.
Women in Business— Corporate social responsibility expert Kellie McElhaney offers a new course that presents a deep dive into the trends and issues facing women in business and leadership. Through both lectures and guest speakers, MBA students will explore Goldman Sachs’ womenomics theory, which links the economic health of a country to the health of its female population, and come away with a global perspective on the subject.
Power & Politics—Professor Cameron Anderson takes his popular course online, with real-time lectures and asynchronous learning opportunities, including games, interactive assessments, and extensive discussion forums. As the only online MBA offering in a new pilot program, the course is oversubscribed by students excited by the flexibility this format offers.
“I’ve heard from my students that my class is like drinking from a fire hose,” Anderson acknowledged when the courses were first launched. “This online approach allows for self-paced learning that I think will benefit students in their busy, time-constrained lives.”
As UC Berkeley Haas continues to roll out new courses such as these as part of its redesigned curriculum, the school appears to be making good on its intentions to prepare students to meet real-world challenges and forge innovative leaders.
