Benefits of a Travel Seminar
- Connects classroom learning with real-world experience
- Firsthand exposure to international business issues and concepts
- Network with students, faculty, and global business leaders
- Adds a line to your resume that helps you stand out
- Experience with a new culture
- Applicable to both your education and your career
Academics
Each Travel Seminar is uniquely crafted by the faculty leader, so no two are exactly alike.
Each Travel Seminar counts as a three-credit course, and is a required course for MBA students. Travel Seminars can be an exciting elective course option within your degree program if you're pursuing an MHA, MMOL, MPA, MSA, MSBA, MSF and/or MSM degree. Consult with your graduate program requirements or graduate program advisor to learn more.
As part of the academic requirement, you’ll take three pre-travel class sessions and one post-travel class session.
Pre-Travel Class Sessions
Before the trip, you’ll have three class sessions with your faculty advisor, where you’ll discuss your site visits and learn about:
- The destination’s economy and its competitive position in the global marketplace
- The political, social, and cultural environment
- Current business issues within the destination
- The unique cultural aspects of doing business in the destination
Post-Travel Class Session
In the last class session, you’ll present your main seminar project. The final project, determined by your faculty leader, could be a paper, presentation, or group assignment.
Travel
Experiencing global business firsthand is a key component of the seminar. You’ll spend seven to ten days engaged in a series of field visits and cultural activities designed to immerse you in the business culture of a destination.
See our available travel seminar programs.
Field Visits
You’ll visit a variety of businesses, ranging from the headquarters of large, multinational corporations to small, entrepreneurial firms. Other potential visits could be to local institutions, such as stock exchanges or regulatory authorities, or you could meet with government leaders or academic experts.
Our students have visited companies, such 3M, the Bank of England, Bayer, BMW, Bombay Stock Exchange, Bovespa, Citigroup, Coca Cola, Embraer, GE Financial Services, Lenovo, Lloyd’s of London, Lufthansa, Microsoft, Natura, State Street Global Markets, TV Globo, Volkswagen, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Zambon.
Cultural Activities
Understanding the local culture is an important element of the Travel Seminar and essential for success. You'll experience a variety of cultural activities, including sightseeing and city tours, visits to museums and historical landmarks, theater performances, and group dinners featuring authentic cuisine.
