Imagine walking into a classroom on your first day and finding there isn鈥檛 a place for you to sit. Would you feel awkward? Confused? Wondering if you got the wrong room?
Professor Chris Leach counts on that sense of dislocation to prepare new students in the World of Business course to engage in complex topics such as scarcity and allocation, trade, intellectual property rights, and globalization.
鈥淭he first day, there aren鈥檛 enough chairs for all the students鈥攕o who gets them?鈥� Leach said. 鈥淟eft handers, musicians, athletes, people who benefit society in general, the disabled鈥攚ho knows?鈥�
The idea is to prepare students for more tangible discussions about, say, how to allocate scarce resources. Yashi Uppalapati (Bus鈥�23) is a model, in addition to being a student, and lessons on globalization have changed how she looks at a fashion industry she鈥檇 like to have a career in. Videos documenting the treatment of workers in developing countries stuck with her.
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鈥淏usiness is not your enemy鈥攊t鈥檚 how you鈥檙e going to change the world.鈥�
- Chris Leach
Professor | Family of Robert H. Deming and Beverly A. Deming Professorship in Entrepreneurship | W.W. Reynolds Capital Markets Program Endowed Chair
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鈥淚t was hard to watch those videos the first time,鈥� said Uppalapati, who now works as a teaching assistant for the course. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure what I took away from that. But seeing them again, as a TA, I realized that as a result of the course, I was looking for more sustainable choices in fashion.鈥�
That hits on a major point for Leach鈥攖hat no matter what you want to do, you鈥檙e likely to do it working for a business, and it鈥檚 through that business that you have the opportunity to create impact.
鈥淎 lot of purists think that they can be a physicist, a biologist or a musician without engaging business,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they can, and I think they need to understand that business is not your enemy鈥攊t鈥檚 how you鈥檙e going to change the world.鈥�
After the lesson with the chairs, students discuss EpiPens, the controversy around the cost of each unit鈥攁nd who should have access to them. Each game kicks off a new topic that challenges students to rethink thorny topics like minimum wage, global trade or access to resources.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e heard back from our students is that months after taking the class, they remember the games, even if they think they鈥檙e a little bit silly at the time,鈥� he said.
That鈥檚 definitely true of Nick Cervasio (Bus鈥�22), a former sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps who resumed his education after being discharged.
鈥淲hat I appreciated about the course was it鈥檚 not a typical college course,鈥� Cervasio said. 鈥淭he way the information was presented鈥攚hether in games or through readings鈥攍ets you absorb it in your own way. And the open discussions offered the opportunity to engage with your peers and figure out what everyone else took from it. Oftentimes, it got you to challenge your own ideas about business.鈥�
Other students said the perspective they got from class discussions stayed with them, as well. Sarah Garcia (Bus鈥�22) said taking the course as a freshman prepared her to embrace complex problems in areas like sustainability and ethics.
鈥淚 think a lot of people assume business students only learn about selling things and making money,鈥� said Garcia, who spent her summer on a finance internship with Tolmar. 鈥淭alking about hard issues in World of Business helps you stand up for yourself a little, and show that business is there to solve problems and create opportunities for society.鈥�
That, Leach said, is just what he鈥檚 looking for.
鈥淚 want our students to be able to defend business as a social covenant between the members of society, and understand how it benefits everyone,鈥� he said.
Fast Facts: A World of Difference
Schools like Clemson and the University of Kansas have reached out to Chris Leach to learn more about creating courses like World of Business on their campuses. Here鈥檚 what makes the program unique to Leeds:
Drawing on de Soto
The ideas of Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto greatly influenced the course content. De Soto鈥檚 scholarly work examines the difficulties entrepreneurs face when they lack property rights, a key factor limiting innovation and economic advancement in developing countries. The course was redesigned and led to the subsequent creation of the Hernando de Soto Capital Markets Program at Leeds in 2016, established with a gift from William Reynolds.
Broad faculty base
Though Chris Leach was one of four designers for the course, he鈥檚 just one of a broad complement of professors who teach it. That diversity brings something unique to each class, said Yashi Uppalapati, a TA for the class: 鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely a different perspective, in terms of how the material is presented.鈥�
Timing counts
World of Business is a required part of the first-year Leeds experience that helps orient students for their degree plan. A similar class was developed and launched for MBA students two years ago. 鈥溌槎挂� have been enthusiastic about this exposure to current events in the business context, as enlightened both by contemporary and historical moral and economic thought,鈥� Leach said.
