Brandeis trustees approve innovative business major
WALTHAM, Mass. — The trustees of Brandeis University on March 25 approved an undergraduate business major recommended by the faculty in response to growing student demand and to the need to prepare students for the changes and challenges of the 21st century professional world.
Brandeis students have long been inclined to create double majors; the new business curriculum will enable them to acquire essential business understanding that will be useful in combination with other highly popular majors such as biology, economics and global studies.
Studies indicate that business currently tops the list of interests of college applicants in the United States. As the result of a concentrated effort by faculty, administration and students, a program has been created to link naturally to the character and vision of Brandeis, which highly values civic engagement, social justice and responsible, sustainable development.
The business major will be rooted in the liberal arts and supported by the intellectual resources of the professional schools, in particular the International Business School. Global, social and ethical issues are to be integrated into core courses.
Louis Brandeis, the university’s namesake, practiced commercial law before he was appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States. He was, throughout his career, fascinated by the way business works and the impacts it has on society.
Thus, the new business major focuses strongly on development of critical thinking and analysis, the social context of business and the organizational underpinnings of business practice. A central goal of the Brandeis approach is to offer multiple paths for students to develop connections between their business studies and individual, non-financial measures of success. The Brandeis program is more heavily weighted toward liberal arts than most other undergraduate business majors.
Business schools and business degrees are commonly accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). All programs of Brandeis University’s International Business School and the MBA program of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management are accredited by the association, and the new undergraduate major has been structured by the faculty in a way that they believe will be accepted by the AACSB during the next reaccredidation review.
Click here to download a pdf of the business major proposal.
