lauder curriculum

“… The Lauder Institute, which offers an MBA/MA in international studies, is arguably the single best global management experience anywhere.”
- Business Week Guide to the Best Business Schools

For over 20 years the Lauder Institute has been a pioneer in integrating management education with international studies and language and cross-cultural proficiencies.

Lauder students complete the core curriculum for the Wharton MBA, fulfilling all requirements for the degree. Additionally, students pursue one of 18 majors, which gives students the opportunity to pursue an area of special interest.

Through the School of Arts & Sciences, students pursue an international studies course sequence in the social sciences and humanities.

Course Descriptions

INTS 71X Area History
Survey courses about East Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East help students develop an historical perspective on critical values and institutions for an improved understanding of major developments in each region of specialization.

INTS 721 International Political Economy of Business Environments
Globalization and the information revolution fundamentally affect the way business is conducted. Similar but less-noticed changes occur in the world of politics, where governments increasingly compete for mobile capital and information technology is used to regulate business activities in innovative ways. This course is designed for students who are interested in studying how governmental policies interact with business. Using standard economic tools, we will develop a systematic approach to understanding important political trends and questions: Why do we observe more and more regional free-trade zones? How risky is it to build up production capacity in countries with high levels of corruption? Should businesses lobby for or against campaign finance reform? Who gains and who loses from economic sanctions? How do governments and NGOs use the Internet to monitor business activities? Will European countries use monetary integration as a pretext to protect their markets? The material covered in this course is of particular relevance to students who are interested in pursuing an international career and for those who plan to work for internationally operating corporations.

INTS 732 Comparative Capitalist Systems
Although the world seems increasingly homogenized, and globalization the current orthodoxy, individual nations retain distinct, capitalist practices that subvert the idea of a universal system. Diversity still coexists within a globalizing economy. Each nation's current economic system has evolved from its own unique historical experience and reflects various cultural values and national institutions. Historical perspective provides an understanding of differing capitalist practices essential for an understanding of our economic world. This course surveys the evolution of capitalist economic practices from its earliest origins to capitalisms adoption by newly emerging economies and the former communist world.

INTS 991 Research Project and Paper
Students work in cross-language teams on research-oriented projects throughout three semesters of their degree program.  The projects are designed to enable students to integrate their Wharton (or Law), SAS, and language skills.  They are also designed to give the Lauder Institute, through the work of its students, a voice in major economic or policy debates.  Projects involve delivery of results of the research to a specific audience, customer, client, or organization.  Projects are co-supervised by two faculty members, one from Wharton (or Law) and one from SAS.  Upon completion of the team-based project, students write individual papers on topics of their choice, but also based upon their team’s research.

INTS 6X1 Language and Cultural Perspectives (First Summer Immersion Program)
Lauder students select a regional and language specialization as described in the preceding pages. These languages are all for non-native speakers - candidates must demonstrate Advanced oral proficiency prior to admission.

Two months of the first summer are spent at one of the Institute's program sites abroad: Beijing and Shanghai; Mexico City and Madrid; Moscow and St. Petersburg; Munich and Berlin; Paris and Dakar; São Paulo and Salvador; Tokyo and Kyoto; or Cairo and Dubai. The primary goal of the immersion program is to advance professional language skills through intensive study in courses taught by native speakers. Students have the opportunity to expand their knowledge of the literature, history, and contemporary culture of one of the societies in which their chosen language is spoken. They also participate in cultural excursions and visits to local and multinational businesses, where they meet with executives to gain insights into business culture and practices, organizational arrangements, and the corresponding sector of the economy.

Lauder Summer Management Project
An integral part of the Lauder version of the MGMT 654/655 course is a small research project undertaken during the summer immersion program.  The project involves researching and writing on a topic of current interest in the country or region.  Topics may be related to a specific company, an industry, the financial sector, the economy, politics, culture, society, or any other relevant issue. Students work in teams of about 5 students to gather information and conduct interviews in their program language. The teams then write short articles in both their program language and in English.  The goal is for the articles to be published by Knowledge@Wharton as part of its Lauder Insight Series. Teams also give short presentations on their topics to the Lauder community at the end of Pre-Term.

INTS 6X2/6X3 Language and Cultural Perspectives (Academic Year On-campus Program)
Students participate in specialized language and culture courses during the four semesters at Penn. Three class hours each week are devoted to improving mastery of the language itself. Additional intensive workshops provide an opportunity for applied usage in business and social contexts. These courses are taught by specially trained second-language teachers and applied-language-acquisition experts, supported by faculty from various academic departments and visiting scholars and practitioners. Topical areas covered during the two years typically include political parties and their leaders; legal and social issues of contemporary importance; literature, history, and philosophy as ways to understand the values and the mind-set of the culture; arts, film, media, and sports as contemporary expressions of a culture and its values; and business or interpersonal situations as vehicles for gaining insights and skills needed for effective management of interactions.

MA Electives
Each student must select two electives from graduate-level offerings of the School of Arts & Sciences. These courses may focus on the region of the student's specialization or on the broader international context. The courses may be drawn from any of the social sciences or from the humanities. Students usually take these courses during the third and fourth semesters but may complete them at other times to fit their schedules.

International MBA Electives
In order to satisfy the degree requirements for your joint MBA/MA degree, 2 courses must be selected from this list.

Student-Initiated-Learning (SIL) Courses
Based on previous course/trip models - Cuba, India, and Africa (Senegal and South Africa), Lauder is prepared to support one student-initiated study trip each year, usually in May. These SIL courses are an extension of the Lauder SAS program and earn SAS credit. SIL courses may be used to satisfy one (not both) of the SAS electives required for the MA in International Studies degree.

SIL Course Policy and Guidelines