Courses

"'Creative Careers: Learning from the Alumni' is a win/win/win proposition.  The students win by hearing real world advice from the alumni; the alumni win both by connecting with current students and by analyzing closely their own careers in preparation for their presentations; and the College wins by strengthening the tie between the students and alumni and by reminding both that a Grinnell education extends far past graduation."     - Linnet Harlan '72

Alumni Short-Courses 2011-12  

The Wilson Program typically funds  two short-courses annually by Grinnell Alumni. These short-courses are normally 3 weeks long, meeting 2 days a week (T,TH or M,W) from 2:15 to 4:05.

2012 Short course instructions WILSON PROGRAM IN ENTERPRISE AND LEADERSHIP.doc

Alumni Short Courses - Spring 2012

SST 295.01  Women Leaders in the Private Sector: Practical Career Advice 

Linnet Harlan '72 and Sydney McQuoid '73. This short course will present practical career advice for women contemplating career paths as leaders in the private sector. While women are graduating from college in higher percentages than men, women still have not achieved parity with men. Drawing heavily on the experience of the two instructors, this course will explore ways in which women can examine and perhaps change their own outlooks and behaviors to improve their chances of attaining and retaining leadership positions. It will also provide practical strategies for coping with challenges that continue to face women. This course will focus on women, though some topics in it will be of interest to men. While the instructors’ experiences are in the private sector (law, corporations and cable television), much of the advice relating to leadership will also be applicable to public and non-profit work.  Dates: April 3 to April 19, 2012. Short course deadline apply.

Faculty Courses - Spring 2012

SST 295.03 Managing Enterprise and Innovation

Douglas Caulkins Special Topic: Managing Enterprise and Innovation This course, sponsored by the Donald L. Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership, takes a case-study approach to the management of innovations, using case studies by alumni visitors. Innovations include changes in products, processes, and organizational structures, in such fields as social enterprise, education, biotechnology, community action organizations, web-based businesses, conservation organizations, and high technology firms. Alumni will participate throughout the course, giving their experience of managing innovation in a variety of firms and NGOs. Prerequisites: 2 courses in the social studies division. Cross-list: SST-295

Alumni Short Courses - Fall 2011

SST 295.02 The International Commercial Lawyer in the Age of Global Finance

Dale Furnish '62. This short course will show Grinnell students how they may best pursue a career in international commercial law. First, we will explore the legal framework—public and private—of global commerce as it stands today and as it is likely to develop in the next generation. Second, we will analyze the nature of legal education, the controls on entry into the legal profession, and the organization of international law practice. Finally, each student will be asked to draw on the course readings, supplemented by their own independent research, to write a paper defining how a student might best go about pursuing a career as an international commercial lawyer. Each student’s paper will focus on a career in a specific area of international commerce, chosen in a conference with the teacher. While the course focuses principally on law, it is also relevant to careers in the international aspects of business, economics, diplomacy, and public administration.

SST 295.01 Creative Careers: Learning from Alumni

 Douglas Caulkins. This course, sponsored by the Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership, focuses on the idea of career, as the construction of one's identity within the context of communities. We will examine cases studies of 5-8 Grinnell alumni who have developed significant careers and made a difference in the government, non-profit, and business sectors. These alumni, with diverse majors in all three divisions, will visit class to tell their own stories so that we can learn about their opportunities, decisions, and learning as they constructed their careers. Dates: Feb 4 March 11.1/2 semester course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: One social studies division course (Chosen from the departments of Anthropology, Education, History, Economics, Sociology or Political Science).

Alumni Short Courses - Spring 2011

SST 295.03 Microfinance in the United States: An Introduction

Amelia Lobo ’99. This short course will examine the practice of microfinance in the United States. Microfinance is well-established as a tool for the alleviation of poverty in the developing world. Lobo will explore the role of microfinance in the United States and discuss the challenges microlenders face. Students will learn the basics of underwriting microloans through real world examples. They will also learn about the career possibilities in the field. Prerequisite: None. Dates: February 8 to February 24.  Short course deadlines apply.  

SST 295.01 The Law and the Lawyer: A Career and a Commitment

Fred Little ’53 and Harvey Nixon ’53 . This short course will be presented in the context of corporate securities law. However, the concepts apply broadly to all areas of the law. Little/Nixon will use the intellectual framework of that field to discuss what lawyers actually do and what they are not supposed to do. In response to corporate misconduct this field has dramatically expanded in recent years from the law books to the front pages of the national press. Conveniently it is also the field in which your instructors have spent their working days and many of their week-ends and nights. Discussion will cove some rules of professional conduct to illustrate the process of the practice of law-- a process that should be followed whatever substantive body of law--corporate, securities, environmental, and so forth-- is being practiced. If we were baking a cake, the substantive law tells us the ingredients and the rules of professional conduct tell us the process we follow in combining and cooking them. The objective of this course is not to teach you in twelve hours how to be a lawyer or even whether to be a lawyer. This is not a survey course and is not designed to explore any area of the law in depth. Rather it is intended to give you the flavor of the practice of law from a practical rather than a theoretical standpoint. If in the process you begin to think as a lawyer, even a little bit, we will consider this course to be a success. Prerequisite: Third or fourth-year standing. Dates: April 5 to April 21. Short course deadlines apply.  

Faculty Short Courses - Spring 2011

SST 295.02: Creative Careers: Learning from Alumni 

Douglas Caulkins This course, sponsored by the Wilson Program in Enterprise and Leadership, focuses on the idea of career, as the construction of one's identity within the context of communities. We will be examined in cases studies of 5-8 Grinnell alumni who have developed significant careers and made a difference in the government, non-profit, and business sectors. These alumni, with diverse majors in all three divisions, will visit class to tell their own stories so that we can learn about their opportunities, decisions, and learning as they constructed their careers. Dates: February 4 to March 11, Lecture Friday 02:15PM - 04:05PM. 1/2 semester course deadlines apply. Prerequisite: One social studies division course (Anthropology, Education, History, Economics, Sociology or Political Science).

Alumni Short Courses - Fall 2010

Barry Zigas '73.  This course examined how our economy went from boom to bust last year, and how venerable Wall Street institutions disappeared literally overnight. In particular the course considers the role of homeownership and mortgage lending in precipitating the “Great Recession”.  Finally, it looked at the history of America’s (sometimes conflicting) regulatory policy toward capital, and students will devise their own plan for reforming Federal regulation.  Zigas is Principal of Zigas and Associates LLC which provides strategy, program, and organizational development services for private and non-profit organizations. He is also Director of Housing Policy, for the Consumer Federation of America, a national consumer advocacy organization.  Recent publications include “Preventing Foreclosures”, in Retooling HUD for a Catalytic Federal Government: A Report to Secretary Shaun Donovan, published in 2009 by the Penn Institute for Urban Research, University of Pennsylvania. Short Course: September 28 - October 14, 2010.

SST 295.04 Dilemmas of US Healthcare 2010

Ron B.H. Sandler, MD '62. This course examines the healthcare system of the United States prior to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.  The US has by far the most expensive healthcare system on Earth, costing $2.3 trillion in 2008, about 16% of GDP.  Is our system, therefore, the best?  This course examines the strengths and weakness of the US health care system, especially in comparison with those of other countries. It considers how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed by the President in March of this year, will affect that system.   Sandler, a recently retired orthopedic surgeon, served as Chair of the Department of Surgery and President of the Medical Staff  at Mesa Lutheran Hospital in Arizona.  He is a fellow of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons and a life trustee of Grinnell College. Short Course: October 26-November 11, 2010.