… introduce graduate students in business to the world of international business,
international trade and political economy …
Prerequisite: None
Stillman’s Mission
… is to enrich each student’s life through an ethics-centered education focusing on transforming concepts into business practice.
Welcome To The Course
Welcome to International Perspective. This is your course syllabus. I will update this syllabus if I add something to the course or if something unexpected intervenes … like a hurricane or blizzard. It is your responsibility to remain current on course assignments and materials by reviewing this syllabus regularly for updates. Please remember that this is an online course. Please review the materials located here before you decide to continue your enrollment in this course.
The course will launch on Monday, January 9th and conclude on Sunday, February 26th. You should review this syllabus, the calendar and the other materials included in this site carefully. You will find answers to any questions when you review the rest of the information included on this site. Please DM me in Slack if you have any questions after you’ve reviewed the site and this syllabus.
Before We Begin
We will launch on Monday, January 9th and conclude on Sunday, February 26th. We will begin work on the first module of the course on Tuesday, January 10th. Please click Before Our Class Begins to complete some housekeeping items that include introducing yourself, agreeing to the course learning contract and completing the account creation for Slack, Google+ and the course wiki. Please complete these items as soon as possible so that we can begin work on the 10th.
Introduction
We will approach this course’s subject matter from the viewpoint of a generalist, offering information and insights from the broad perspectives of business, economics, finance, political and economic geography, risk management, marketing, ethics and international law. Through an introduction to these fields, it is expected that you will gain a core understanding of the concepts, ideas and vocabulary of international business.
Contact Me
Professor John H. Shannon
- Office: 651 Jubilee Hall
- Email: john DOT shannon AT shu DOT edu
- Office Hours: By appointment only
We can schedule an alternative meeting time if you are not available during my office hours. Please DM me in Slack with some days/times when you are available and we can schedule a video conference in Skype or G+.
What Should You Expect?
The subject matter of the course is interesting, challenging and very timely. We will examine the basis and evolution of globalization and its impact on different cultures and political systems. We will also evaluate how the legal system impacts the international business environment and we will focus on intellectual property issues … a most important area of the law. We will close with an appraisal of international trade and foreign direct investment. We will use a variety of digital platforms to interact with each other and the course materials. You will have a better sense of my perspective on learning environments after you read this site’s section on Teaching and Learning.
Learning Objectives
As I noted above, this course is prepared from perspective of a generalist and will expose you to the concepts, ideas and vocabulary of international business. You will have the opportunity to dive much deeper into different aspects of international business in your other courses so this experience will provide a foundation. You will find the course learning objectives described in detail in the individual modules in the Course Schedule.
Required Course Materials
All course materials are available at the course wiki or in the Course Schedule section of this course materials. Please click here to request access to the course wiki. When you request access you will be prompted for your email address (please use your SHU email to register for the course wiki). Also, please add your full name to the Message box. I will then approve each user’s access to the course wiki.
Additional Materials
I may assign additional materials for use in our course. I will post links to those materials in advance in the Course Schedule. Please check regularly for updates.
Technology
Since this is an online course and you have reviewed my Course Policies, you are familiar with my expectations about the use of technology in my courses. Your participation in this course will require you to engage with a number of different digital platforms. Our primary communication and collaboration platform will be Slack. If you need to reach me or have a question, please DM in Slack. We use Google+ for our video conversations, when necessary. If you have a question that will require an extended discussion, I usually use a video conference so that we can share content during the discussion. You will prepare your writing assignments using digital platforms in Slack and Blackboard that will allow you to enhance your text based content. You will use resources as varied as a search engine (Google, DuckDuckGo or Bing) as well as those available from our own Walsh Library. If you are unfamiliar with any of the platforms we will use for this course, visit Slack, Blackboard and Google+ to review their tutorials.
You are responsible for “figuring it out” when it comes to the “how to” aspects of a project. If you don’t know how to do something … “Google” it!
Many of my students have told me that “figuring it out” was both an unexpected and beneficial experience and a critical learning outcome.
Course Policies
It is your responsibility to become familiar with my Course Policies including preparation & participation; assignments; course communication; assessment and plagiarism. Please review them carefully.
As in the law … ignorance (of the Course Policies) is not an excuse.