Nov 27, 2024  
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
2023-2024 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Social Entrepreneurship Minor


A liberal arts experience is an important foundation for students interested in social entrepreneurship. The social entrepreneurship minor is designed for students from all undergraduate majors who want to lead change in their communities. Social entrepreneurship involves an inventive mindset and skillset focused on building innovations to benefit society and culture. It is change-making behavior aimed at a sustainable social impact pursued collaboratively and creatively, informed by relevant theories, perspectives, and ethical values. Whether through building or changing systems, institutional arrangements, elements of culture, or environmental contexts, social entrepreneurs are intentional, passionate, and dedicated to discovering untried approaches to social problems. They harness and integrate knowledge, values, relationships, community perspectives, and individual passions toward change. The curricular pathway of the minor includes the entrepreneurship core, electives, and a capstone experience. The minor facilitates reflection gleaned from the major, the minor curriculum, and co-curricular learning experiences. Students who take the social entrepreneurship minor participate in a program that culminates in an experiential, capstone course. Students are prepared for the capstone course through the transformative insights of the major, personal values, required courses, and electives that focus on elements of entrepreneurship, management, wider social issues, and ethical perspectives. Some of the electives are Academic Community Engagement (ACE) courses because their pedagogy complements the minor and each offers the student community-based learning experiences where insights for social entrepreneurship may emerge or develop further. Other electives offer opportunities for in-depth reflection and readings on ethical perspectives. Electives also include courses designed to strengthen capacities relevant for social entrepreneurial endeavors. The social entrepreneurship minor is not a substitute for a minor in business or business entrepreneurship.