As part of the Massey School’s International Business Field Study course, 18 graduate students along with the College of Business Administration’s Dr. Jeff Overby and Belmont Instructional Technology Coordinator Claudia Myrick departed Oct. 27 for Cape Town, South Africa.
As business becomes increasingly global in nature, The Jack C. Massey Graduate School now appears to have been ahead of its time when, back in 2000, it began requiring all of its students to take an international study trip at some point during their degree programs. The School views this practice as a way of expanding students’ views of culture and the interdependency that exists between companies and countries around the world. Only a handful of other graduate business programs, such as Georgetown and Southern California, hold their graduate business students to a similar requirement.
The group’s itinerary for the week in South Africa includes visits with various businesses and lectures from a number of speakers in order to learn more about doing business in South Africa. In addition, this trip includes a special focus on social entrepreneurship, allowing students to see real-life examples of how individuals have used their entrepreneurial skills to solve social problems and empower the poor. Throughout the process, the program seeks to provide students a better understanding of the interrelationships between poverty, AIDS and economic development. To read updates on the group’s blog, click here.
Proposed Massey trips for the next year include Valencia, Spain (March 1-8), China (May 15-24), Know Europe–Belgium, Holland, France and Spain (June-July 2008), Brazil (Aug. 9-16) and Prague (Nov. 1-8, 2008).
