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The Most ‘Deeply Optimistic’ MBA Courses

Once, two University of Virginia Darden School of Business professors, Edward Hess and James Freeland, discussed a theory about economic inequality in the US that is constantly getting worse.

At first, Freeland didn’t understand what that even meant. In his Poets&Quants interview, he said he had been quite ignorant of this subject five years before.

But when Hess mailed him several New York Times articles dedicated to inequality of economy and wealth in America as well as the way it influences social development. According to one of these articles, the richest 1% in the US have an enormously high proportion of income.

For Freeland, it was absolutely mind-blowing: he never even thought the situation could look that bad. So he decided to research it further, using the Times methodology. What he learned was shocking: with every year, the economic situation in the US was getting worse and worse. Then, he realized he should start a new course at Darden dedicated to these changes.

In 2014, the Economic Inequality and Social Mobility course for full-time MBA students was launched at Darden. First, Freeland planned to take in 20 students and give a few seminars. Ultimately, they got 40 students, then 50, then 70. Last year, the course had 65 participants. The course attracted a lot of student interest.

An Award-Receiving Course

Freeland’s course, co-taught with Darden colleague Edward Freeman, received an award from the Aspen Institute. This year, the award was based on courses able to “inspire and equip future business leaders to tackle the issues of our time” – dedicated to critical problems of society, like water resources, AI and others.

Most of the awarded courses (20 in all) were given by US universities. Their topics have a wide range, from new economic models to sustainability.

The award-winning courses are in themselves a challenge against the “normal” business school classes. Their goal is to teach new creative leaders who can do their job in the modern unstable economy.

Economic Inequality: One of the Worst Threats for Companies

Freeland believes that his course would help business leaders fight inequality in economy and learn what can be done by both companies and governments to make the inequality more bearable.

Thanks to the course, students now have a clear understanding of economic inequality, its underlying reasons and its consequences and impact on society. Freedland believes that he is actually ahead of the times, as in the nearest future all businesses will have to do something about inequality, and the MBAs with this knowledge will be at a considerable advantage.

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