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Intro To Entrepreneurship Class

The Sheedy Family Program curriculum consists of three required courses. Students accepted into the program are required to complete all three. The series is designed to help students connect their interests in business and the liberal arts and to discern their visions of a meaningful life or career.

Sheedy students may opt to enroll in additional courses, exclusive to the program, that are focused on professional development. Please consult ND Class Search or talk with the program directors to learn about optional courses offered any given semester.

Required course sequence

1. Business in Context

ALSF 30126 (3 credits)

For their first course, Sheedy students take a program-specific gateway seminar designed to introduce them to some of the biggest questions and most important debates in business. "Business in Context" focuses on scholarship in the humanities with an eye toward application in the contemporary practice of business. BiC is taught by Prof. Chris Hedlin and fulfills a University Integration core requirement.

Students admitted to the Sheedy Family Program are required to take this course during their first (fall) semester in the program. Students who cannot take this course during their first semester in the program are ineligible to apply to th SFP.

Students taking "Business in Context" also enroll concurrently in ALSF 33126: Sheedy Program Enrichment Experiences, a 1-credit course that covers or marks their participation in all required Sheedy programming, including the monthly Sheedy Dinners and annual fall retreat.

2. The Working Life

ALSF 20255: Work, Meaning, and Happiness (3 credits)

In their second Sheedy course, students take on practical, personally relevant questions about what makes work meaningful and how work fits within a purpose-driven life. Finding good work – which, for many people, means getting a meaningful job they're passionate about – can seem like the crucial factor in determining whether their life goes well or poorly. But things aren’t nearly so simple. Students in "The Working Life" go beyond the myths to develop their own robust philosophy of work.

For the sake of community building and curriculum continuity, students should plan to take the second Sheedy course the spring semester immediately after they finish "Business in Context." Exceptions are made for students studying abroad; they may take the course the next spring instead.

Note: Students in the 24-25 or 25-26 cohorts who have already fulfilled their second philosophy requirement may opt to take ALSF30226: Women's Work during the spring semester instead. 

3. Investing and the Good Life

ALSF 4001 (1.5 credits x2 semesters)

During their senior year, Sheedy students take “Investing and the Good Life.” Taught by Paul Buser, Rick Buhrman, and Patty Brady, IGL seeks to provide the definitive curriculum on the role of investing and compounding in the context of a well-lived life. At its heart, IGL features guest teachers who are not only world-class investors and company builders but also genuinely great human beings. The goal? To inspire a community of lifelong learners who embrace the time horizon of eternity in pursuit of the good life. In keeping with the ethos of the Sheedy Family Program, students are expected to bring their unique majors, minors, backgrounds, and insights to bear on the case studies, readings, dialogues, and presentations integrated into each class session. Students are expected to participate willingly in discussions and to navigate both detailed information and big ethical questions regarding companies, markets, case studies, and human behavior. The class serves as both a capstone to the program and a stepping stone to the next phase of the Sheedys’ worklife.

Sheedys are expected to take IGL as their third requirement unless they petition otherwise (possible reasons: study abroad, immovable course conflict, etc.). In such cases, they will take one of the recommended courses below to substitute for this requirement.

Recommended Courses: Business and the Liberal Arts Elective

Various (3 credits)

Although Sheedy students are only required to take the three courses above, the program maintains a list of excellent classes that are highly recommended for students interested in business and the liberal arts. The list comprises upper-level courses that can serve as electives (or, in some cases, be applied to a student’s major or minor), and is taught by Sheedy-affiliated faculty and friends of the program.

This list of recommended courses indicates which courses are being offered next semester and also contains a "featured" section, which highlights courses taught by Sheedy-affiliated faculty that come recommended by Sheedy students.

Some sample recommended courses include:

  • Business in America from East India Company to Google (Joshua Specht, History)

  • Christianity, Commerce, and Consumerism (Brad Gregory, History)

  • Consuming America (Emily Remus, History)

  • Capitalism and Its Discontents (Joshua Lund, Romance Languages and Literatures)

  • Gender @ Work in US History (Dan Graff, Higgins Labor Program)

  • The History of American Capitalism (Korey Garibaldi, American Studies)

  • Philanthropy and the Common Good (Jon Hannah, Political Science)

  • Women’s Work (Chris Hedlin, Literature)

Are you a faculty member interested in proposing your course as an addition to this list? Please contact Richard Clark, Chris Hedlin, or Brett Beasley for more information about the selection criteria or to inquire about becoming part of our affiliated faculty.