From the classroom to the real world

It’s a blustery February morning in Trieste, Italy, and five University of Redlands School of Business and Society students are walking over to present their preliminary findings to Giulio Centis, founder of music industry startup Loud Rights. The team is nervous, but ready and excited to share insights with their client. An hour later, the student team and Centis are deep in conversation about partnership and investment strategies. This is the business consultancy capstone, a course that matches teams of students with strategy projects submitted by businesses throughout Europe and southern California, providing students the opportunity to put into action all that they have learned in the classroom.

The consultancy capstone is a key offering in the School of Business and Society’s suite of International Programs, travel courses designed to expose students to business operations, social impact, and strategies across the globe. In addition to the consultancy capstone, students can enroll in courses consisting of 10 days of international travel with business site visits, presentations by organizational leaders, academic lectures, and cultural excursions. This May, for instance, students will join Professor Allison Fraiberg in Italy and Slovenia to study sustainable business. Consultancy client Centis, passionate about his recent experience, has already agreed to present on sustainability in the entertainment sector. This program will bring students to VeniSIA, a large sustainability incubator in Venice; to Urban Center Trieste, a community- and youth-focused business accelerator; and to Slovenian “eco-farms” and sites organized by social entrepreneur Mark Kalin.

The School of Business and Society enjoys a special relationship with the “C Lab” entrepreneurship program at the Università degli studi di Trieste, where Fraiberg has brought students to meet their faculty and students since 2019. “When Redlands students engage with students abroad,” Fraiberg says, “that’s when authentic learning truly happens.” Nothing makes her happier, she adds, than seeing the Italian and American students wander off together for a bite to eat after the “official” meeting concludes. The faculty in Trieste enjoys hosting Redlands students, and they have even made plans to visit California this coming September with a small group of their own students. With expertise in entrepreneurship and GIS, the Trieste contingent looks forward to visiting the campus community, meeting with employee teams at Esri, and discovering innovative enterprises throughout California.

Interested in learning more about international travel programs in the School of Business and Society? Contact Professor Allison Fraiberg at Allison_Fraiberg@redlands.edu or 909-748-8767.