| Upper Level Seminars |
Upper-Level SeminarsUpper-level seminars include both intra-disciplinary and interdisciplinary seminars. Intra-disciplinary seminars are designed to help students in the major liberal arts disciplines define what entrepreneurship is within their disciplines and to inspire entrepreneurial thinking. One of the aims of these seminars is to have students develop a comprehensive plan for an entrepreneurial project that can be implemented while they are still WFU students. These seminars are primarily intended for junior-level students.Interdisciplinary seminars are designed to emphasize the discovery of new knowledge and to expose students to the fertile intersections between disciplines. They should foster new and creative ways of thinking and new approaches to problems. These seminars are primarily intended for senior-level students. Previous Upper-Level SeminarsESE 203: Introduction to Professional Writing -- Professor Mary Martin Niepold, English -- This is a hands-on course to sharpen writing skills for a variety of purposes: Internet content, business documents, public relations, advertising/marketing tools, etc. Students will produce a fully operating model for business writing for a local organization. Also listed as JOU283. Click here for the Spring 2007 syllabus. Click here for the Spring 2008 syllabus. Religious Intolerance in the United States (ESE 306/REL 390) --Professor Lynn Neal, Religion-- This course examines how religious intolerance—from hate speech to media coverage to violent acts—has been a persistent theme in the history of the United States. In addition to various forms of religious intolerance, students will also analyze the perpetrators and victims of intolerance. Students will also consider how to combat religious intolerance through a venture project. A website that educates others about the historical and present reality of religious intolerance will be created. Click here for the Spring 2008 syllabus. Biomimetics: Nature's Way --Professor William Conner, Biology and Professor Dwayne Godwin, WFU School of Medicine and Assistant Dean, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences-- This seminar will explore “Nature’s Way” of solving real world problems and how Nature’s answers can provide the basis for new inventions and novel ways of thinking. Click here for the Fall 2007 syllabus. ESE 202: Building a Better Biology Book: the Accessible Textbook Project -- Professor Dan Johnson, Biology -- Hands–on project requiring the skills of juniors and seniors from multiple disciplines. Participants assist in developing a prototype for an introductory biology textbook. Collaborative teams conduct preliminary market research, design the book format, develop a set of authoring tools, write the content of one prototype chapter, and assess the instructional effectiveness of their final product. P-POI. Click here for the Spring 2007 syllabus. ESE 201: Free Trade, Fair Trade: Independent Entrepreneurs in the Global Market -- Professor Jeanne Simonelli, Anthropology -- This seminar will explore the barriers to market participation experienced by independent entrepreneurs in the US and select developing countries, then design a project that will both help these producers transcend such obstacles, and educate the general public about the products they buy. Click here for the Spring 2006 syllabus. Click here for the Fall 2007 syllabus. Accounting and Financial Management for Entrepreneurs -- Professor Terry Baker, Accounting -- At an early stage, entrepreneurs discover that they need to tell the financial aspect of their story and be able to communicate this story using standard accounting language. The model for telling the story is a business plan. This course focuses on critical accounting and financial management issues within the business plan such as cash flow planning, measuring market potential, financial statement projections, and identifying capital needs. Click here for the Spring 2006 syllabus. Religion and Public Life (ULS/REL 332) --Professor Stephen Boyd, Religion-- An examination of alternative historical paradigms withing specific religous traditions and the implications of those paradigms for the public activity of their adherents. Traditions and topics, including religious leadership, social entrepreneurship, and the separation of church and state, may vary with instructor. This course (Fall 2005) will focus on Christianity, issues of leadership, power, and the differences among service, advocacy and organizing their respective goals, as well as their roots in three dominant theological paradigms in Christian history. Click here for the Fall 2005 syllabus. Designer Antibodies: Creating a Life Science Company -- Professor Ray Kuhn, Biology -- Many start-up companies enter the field of biotechnology in areas of agriculture, diagnostics and therapeutics. Predominantly, these companies target markets in human health and nutrition or research in these areas. A market which has not been addressed is that regarding the development of products for monitoring the health status of fish in the aquaculture industry and for basic research on indicators of fish health. Products to address problems of aquaculture include immunologically based reagents for measuring antibody levels in fish and specific tests for immunodiagnostics of fish diseases. Students will plan the company to include considerations of management, research and production facilities, personnel, marketing research, product development, regulatory requirements (USDA), licenses and fees, capital requirements and funding, and corporate structure. A company name will be chosen, corporate officers chosen, and a web site developed. These efforts will be completed during the first semester and a business plan submitted for competition. During the second semester, the students will identify a test market and will produce for sale at least one product. Click here for the Fall 2004 syllabus.
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