American Business - History, Performance, and Critical Perspectives

Catalog description

Businesses affect all of us in various ways. Because of that, the utility and relevance of our studies in this course will be obvious to all, regardless of what career paths you may eventually choose to pursue. As a result of taking the course, you can expect to broaden your perspectives, expand your reading range, and your communication and critical thinking skills. You will enhance your skills of argumentative scholarly writing, something that can benefit you in your own eventual professional spheres. The aim is to promote an eclectic study of sources offering divergent perspectives on the big questions they attempt to tackle. A significant part of the course will also be devoted to considerations of the ethical and moral imperatives for business. The course is concerned with the nature, rationale, and consequences of America's business philosophies and practices as they influence Americans and the world at large. The starting point for our inquiry will be a famous phrase spoken by President Calvin Coolidge in 1925: "the chief business of the American people is business." Counts as a Communication Intensive course.