Course Description

 

Designed to immerse students in the process of seeking innovative solutions for social transformation through business principles, this course is a highly interactive, experiential, and dynamic one. Whereas many people in the past sought to change society through activism, today individuals are creating new alternatives – entrepreneurial ventures that address social and environmental issues.

 

This course will introduce students to the most effective methods of social change. We will look at the social entrepreneurs, innovators, and visionaries who are coming up with new methods of solving society’s problems. We contrast traditional methods of activism with a new approach that combines the pragmatic approach of social entrepreneurship with the compassionate, collaborative engagement of Transformative Action. Specifically, today’s cutting edge movements tend to be less ideological, less adversarial, more locally specific and more solutions-oriented than previous ones.

 

Students will analyze how non-profit organizations and for-profit companies alike have been innovative in value-led business ventures, fusing values and value creation and assess the potential for social enterprise to play a role in our current economic recovery.