Courses
The center is home to several curricular courses: three interdepartmental courses designed to guide students through the process of ideation to value creation and ultimately to venture launch; and two financial education courses that introduce students to the structure and operation of U.S. and world corporations and financial institutions.
Fall 2020
GFX 100 Introduction to Global Financial Institutions
W 3:15 — 4:55 p.m. | *Remote instruction
Smith faculty, alumnae industry professionals and scholars in the field provide an overview of the financial system and the role of financial institutions in the global economy; domestic and international regulation; domestic and international banking. 1 credit; S/U only. This first-half semester course meets for eight-weeks: September 2 - October 21.
IDP 146 Critical Perspectives on Entrepreneurship
WF 10:55 a.m. — 12:10 p.m. | *Remote instruction
Entrepreneurship takes on a diversity of meanings, forms and structures depending on its source and context. In this course, the topic of entrepreneurship is studied from a variety of critical and under- explored vantage points such as ethics, access, inclusion, culture, power, expression, agency, economic empowerment, cultural and social transformation. Entrepreneurship is counter-mapped from an inter-, intra- and multi-disciplinary lens from the liberal arts tradition and the course examines the commonalities that connect both. The potential of entrepreneurship to create sustained social transformations is critically examined alongside its unique identity within and outside of the realm of economic exchange.
JTerm 2021
IDP 155 Entrepreneurship I: Introduction to Innovation
January 19-29 | MWF 9:20 a.m. — 12:10 p.m. and TTh 9:20 a.m. — 10:35 a.m. | *Remote instruction
In this course, students will begin a journey towards developing an entrepreneurial mindset gaining immediate experience with entrepreneurial innovation by generating bold solutions to problems. Students will be challenged to think about ventures that address a new and just world post COVID-19 using the 17 UNSDGs as a framework for their projects. Students will also analyze cases about real entrepreneurs and explore their challenges, obstacles and ethical decision making. This course is designed around individual and team-based assignments that culminate in final team presentations. Enrollment in IDP 116 is encouraged but not required. 1 credit; S/U only. Course max: 30 students
IDP 156 Entrepreneurship II: Entrepreneurship in Practice
February 1-11 | MWF 9:20 a.m. — 12:10 p.m. and TTh 9:20 a.m. — 10:35 a.m. | *Remote instruction
Building on IDP 155, students will continue developing an entrepreneurial mindset by exploring the process of planning, testing and iterating on their unique ideas, and learning the innovative Lean Launch methodology. Teams will begin mapping their ideas using the Business Model Canvas and the Value Proposition Canvas. Students will be exposed to the Failure Spectrum and analyze cases about failure. Students work in teams to complete daily homework assignments and a final presentation. This course is designed around individual and team-based assignments that culminate in final team presentations. Enrollment in IDP 116 and IDP 155 is encouraged but not required. 1 credit; S/U only. Course max: 30 students
Spring 2021
ACC 223 Financial Accounting
MW, 3:15—4:30 p.m. | Instructional Mode TBD
The course, while using traditional accounting techniques and methodology, focuses on the needs of external users of financial information. The emphasis is on learning how to read, interpret and analyze financial information as a tool to guide investment decisions. Concepts rather than procedures are stressed and class time will be largely devoted to problem solutions and case discussions. A basic knowledge of arithmetic and a familiarity with a spreadsheet program is suggested. 4 credits; not more than four credits in accounting may be counted toward the degree.
Suggested Courses
BIO 101 Modern Biology for the Concerned Citizen
A course dealing with current topics in biology that are important in understanding important issues in today’s modern world. Many of these issues present important choices that must be made by individuals and by governments. Topics include cloning of plants and animals, human cloning, stem cell research, genetically modified organisms, CRISPR, bioterrorism, emerging infectious diseases such as coronavirus, Ebola, Zika and West Nile, gene therapy, DNA diagnostics and forensics, genome projects, human origins, human diversity, species extinction and de-extinction and others. The course includes outside readings and in-class discussions.
CCX 120 Community-Based Learning: Ethics and Practice
Service learning, civic engagement, community-based participatory research and community service are familiar terms for describing forms of community-based learning (CBL) in higher education. Theorists and practitioners continue to debate how students and faculty can best join partners to support community-driven goals in areas nearby colleges and universities. Students consider these issues through exploring the literature of community engagement and learning from the experiences of those who practice its different forms. CCX 120 serves as a gateway course for the Community Engagement and Social Change Concentration. Students are introduced to the varied opportunities available at the college for engaging with communities. 2 credits; S/U only
EGR 100 Engineering for Everyone
EGR 100 serves as an accessible course for all students, regardless of background or intent to major in engineering. Students develop a sound understanding of the engineering design process, including problem definition, background research, identification of design criteria, development of metrics and methods for evaluating alternative designs, prototype development, and proof of concept testing. Working in teams, students present their ideas through oral and written reports. Reading assignments and in-class discussions challenge students to critically analyze contemporary issues related to the interaction of technology and society. Organized around different themes, multiple sections. Engineering majors are required to take this course. Those students considering majoring in engineering are strongly encouraged to take EGR 100 during their first year. Enrollment limited to 20.
ECO 230 Urban Economics
Economic analysis of the spatial structure of cities — why they are where they are and look like they do. How changes in technology and policy reshape cities over time. Selected urban problems and policies to address them include housing, transportation, concentrations of poverty, financing local government. Prerequisite: ECO 150.
IDP 116 Critical Design Thinking Studio*
January 4-15 | MWF 9:20 a.m. — 12:10 p.m. and TTh 9:20 a.m. — 10:35 a.m. | *Remote instruction
"Our current systems perpetuate inequity by design.” - The National Equity Project
In this 1-credit, two-week introductory course we will take-on systemic challenges amplified by COVID-19 and explore what designing towards justice might look and feel like. Students will employ human-centered design, a process that centers the lived experience of people most impacted by a challenge in creatively addressing it. We will look at the implications of design in shaping the world around us and develop a critical lens on designs' role in making change. Students will explore what it means to re-frame challenges
as opportunities, engage in humble inquiry, observe in new ways, synthesize qualitative research, co-generate ideas, prototype, and test their designs. Course max: 16 students; recommended for students enrolling in IDP 155 and IDP 156.
IDP 132: Designing Your Path
Whether you are just starting your Smith journey, embarking on or returning from an immersive experience abroad, weaving together your interests through a Concentration or self-designed major, or wrestling with how to talk about what a Smith education has prepared you to do in the world, this is the class for you. In conversation with your peers, you will design a path - or multiple possible paths - that integrates your academic and co-curricular interests and experiences in a way that is personally meaningful and also consequential to the world beyond yourself. Our work will engage you in testing out different integrative paths of your own design, learning how to tell your story to different audiences. Most importantly, you will develop the capacity to articulate connections between your work in and outside of the classroom, and to explain how what you are doing at Smith is preparing you to fully engage with the world beyond. 1 credit seminar; S/U only.
PHI 204 Philosophy and Design
Design is one of the most pervasive human activities. Its effects—intended or unintended—permeate our lives. Questions abound about the role of design and the significance of being able to exercise it and of being subject to it. For example: Are there particular pleasures, as well as special responsibilities, characteristic of designing? What is the nature of deprivation imposed upon people when they lack the opportunity or the knowledge to share in the design of their living or working conditions? How much control do designers actually have over the meaning and use of what they design?
PHI 238 Environmental Ethics
This course prepares students to understand and critically evaluate various ethical perspectives on human beings’ interactions with nature and these perspectives’ applications to environmental issues. The principal ethical perspectives studied are anthropocentrism, biocentric individualism, environmental holism and environmental pragmatism. We study representative descriptions and defenses of these perspectives and examine in particular whether they can validly and effectively help us resolve environmental problems. We study controversies about biodiversity, wilderness protection, global climate change and pollution. Enrollment limited to 40.
PPL 220 Public Policy Analysis
Analysis of the institutions and processes of public policy formation and implementation. Explores models designed to explain policy and also those whose purpose is to “improve” policy. Develops and uses analytical tools of formal policy analysis. Examines the debate over the possible and proper uses of these analytic tools.