Academics

IBH students complete a five-course, 15-credit program curriculum in order to earn the Honors College IBH Program Citation on their academic transcript. The IBH courses are designed to be thought-provoking, collaborative, and creative. Students engage with the program faculty, hear from guest speakers representing a variety of industries, and gain teamwork and communication skills through group projects and presentations.

Core Courses

First-Year

HBUS100 The Future of Work

What should the future of work look like? What are the forces (economic, technological, societal, legal, etc.) that are shaping what work will look like in the future? How will this vary across industries? Historically, work has been organized around hierarchies where people have job titles and responsibilities based on their position in an organizational chart. Hierarchies have come under increased scrutiny today for many reasons especially because they may not promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace. Moreover, they may not encourage experimentation, innovation, and business success. Unsurprisingly, companies have been adopting new organizational forms and employees are redefining what it means to be an employee. What are the responsibilities of a business to its employees and vice versa? What role does technology play in boosting employees’ productivity while promoting equity? How can businesses adopt a culture that is welcoming to all employees and ensures accountability to each other?

HBUS105 The Future of Analysis

With the availability of tremendous quantities of information and new capacities to analyze them, the field of business is now part of a larger movement across disciplines in data science. This movement focuses on the ability to mine large data sets for insight into numerous dimensions, in the context of business including products, customers, suppliers, operations, finance, and much more. Students will address questions regarding how business is being shaped by the increased use of data. Drawing from various quantitative, computational, and technical fields, students will develop a big-picture understanding of data science in business. Through examples and applications, students will address the challenging questions related to artificial intelligence, data science bias, and privacy. The class is intended to prepare students to make general business decisions; its tools of analysis also intersect with and empower students to work in a wide array of academic disciplines currently invested in new quantitative, computational, and related analytic methods.

Second Year

HBUS200 The Future of Leadership

The Future of Leadership: Preparing to Lead Diverse Organizations through Uncertainty and Complexity delves into the essential elements of leadership to prepare students to lead diverse organizations. Students discover their own leadership style and build critical skills that will prepare them to navigate and lead in uncertain times. The course explores foundational leadership theories, develops problem-solving abilities, and teaches students how to build effective teams. Students will map out strategic visions, influence others, and make decisions that drive impactful outcomes. This course is not just about learning theories; it’s about applying them to real-life challenges. Whether students aspire to lead in business, engineering, technology, healthcare, education, the arts, government, or any other field, the skills and knowledge they acquire here will be invaluable in their future careers. By the end of the semester, they will be well-equipped to lead with confidence and resilience in any field.

HBUS205 IBH Capstone

The IBH Capstone course provides students with the opportunity to apply what they have learned in the IBH Program in a culminating capstone project. Working in interdisciplinary teams, students are paired with external project sponsors to address a real-world problem. In doing so, students will learn more about how a company operates, manages its resources, implements change management, addresses risk and uncertainty, and executes on strategic priorities. Students will employ a variety of methods to develop a solution. At the end of the course, students and project sponsors will come together to celebrate each team’s work from the semester.

Electives

In addition to the four core courses above, IBH students select one elective course to complete. Elective options include opportunities such as the IBH Winter Study Abroad course, an interdisciplinary course on campus, or the IBH internship reflection class, HBUS307.

HBUS307 Business Experience Reflection

In this course, students reflect on a completed business-related internship, develop leadership skills that will assist them in future professional experiences, and broaden their professional knowledge through learning about experiences completed by other IBH students. This reflection allows students to prepare for their next steps in their professional journeys.