Semester on Social Entrepreneurship
This 8-credit program is offered every spring semester. Classes begin mid-January and end in early May. Students will travel to New York City for classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Applications are due by October 10.
An interview with the program director will be scheduled for finalists as part of the application process.
Take the train from Madison to the Big Apple! In the NYC Semester on Social Entrepreneurship, you will spend two days a week traveling to New York City to study the unique field and scope of social entrepreneurship. Under the guidance of your faculty leader, you will interact and learn from a variety of changemakers. From large nonprofits to small grassroots organizations, you will visit a range of sectors, including arts, education, and international development.
What is social entrepreneurship? Learn how modern day organizations are working to address a wide range of social challenges, including poverty, human rights abuses, and environmental damage. Analyze the history and development of social entrepreneurship while rethinking how social entrepreneurship impacts life and society today. Create your own definition of social entrepreneurship and the role it should play in an ideal society.
Move beyond the classroom and explore how today’s social entrepreneurs inspire change in New York City and across the world. Discover how different nonprofit organizations apply business techniques to uniquely address the world’s most serious problems. Determine when, and if, nonprofits are the appropriate institutions to tackle specific social issues. Explore which economic factors drive nonprofit decision making, and what other factors push social entrepreneurs into making the decisions they do.
Design your own solution to a real-world challenge. Working with Drew and your faculty advisor, and an actual social change organization, discover your own path to fixing one of the social issues you have focused on throughout the semester. Draw your own conclusions about the role of social entrepreneurship using your new experiences from the NYC semester.
