Each Global Travel Seminar is crafted by the faculty leader of the course, so no two are exactly alike. However, you will find many similarities. Each seminar includes four class sessions before travel and one class session upon return. Seminars also include field visits, lectures at local academic institutions, and cultural activities.

Pre-travel Class Sessions

Class sessions and assignments designed by the faculty leader will give you a foundation of knowledge about the destination. During pre-travel classes you will also be assigned your final project, which could be a paper or presentation due at the post-travel class session.

• Topics covered in pre-travel class sessions and assignments include:
• An overview of the destination’s economy and its competitive position in the global marketplace
• The political, social, cultural environment in the seminar destination
• Important current business issues being debating in the destination
• In depth discussions about the companies and institutions to be visited
• Introduction to unique cutural aspects of doing business in the destination

Travel Component

The international travel component is the core of the Global Travel Seminar experience. While traveling over a period of 7-14 days you will engage in a series of field visits and cultural activities designed to expose and immerse you in the business destination. More information about each component is below.

Field Visits

Global Travel Seminar field visits are designed to a variety of business related organizations. Company visits are made to a wide range of corporations, from the headquarters of a huge, multinational corporation to a small, entrepreneurial firm. Other potential visits could be made to local institutions, for example stock exchanges or regulatory authorities, or you could meet with government leaders or academic experts.

Partial listing of past field visits: Bank of England, Black & Decker, BMW, Boston Consulting Group, Boston Scientific, Bovespa, Citigroup, Coca Cola, Embraer, FedEx, GE Financial Services, Hewlett Packard, Lloyd’s of London, Lufthansa, Microsoft, Natura, State Street Global Markets, Volkswagen, World Trade Organization (WTO).

Cultural Activities

For those wishing to do business in an international location, understanding the local culture is essential for success. To ensure this understanding a variety of cultural activities are planned for each seminar.

Examples of cultural activities:

• Visits to musuems, cultural art performances and cultural historical landmarks
• Group dinners eating authentic local cuisine
• Networking with students at a university in the seminar destination
• Some free evenings to explore

Your main academic assignments during travel will be to gather the learning that will be included in your final seminar project, acitvely participating in discussions during all parts of the schedule, and capturing your daily observations in a journal to be submitted upon completion of the course.

Post-travel Class Session

In the final post-travel class session, you will deliver your main seminar project. The final project, determined uniquely for each seminar could be a paper, presentation, or group presentation.

To determine how each component will be graded, please see the syllabus of each individual seminar.