Stern undergraduate students concentrating in Sustainable Business examine the unique role of the private sector and gain a broad understanding of how embedding sustainability into core business strategy benefits financial performance and management practices. To learn more about the Concentration and its course requirements, click here.

 

To assist undergraduate students as they design their schedules, CSB has assembled the following list of Sustainable Business courses offered in the upcoming Spring 2024 semester. 

 

 

Foundational Course (Required for Specialization)

BSPA-UB 68: Sustainability for Competitive Advantage

Professor Taylor | MW  3.30 PM - 4.45 PM | In-Person

 

In this course, students will develop an effective leadership perspective through pursuit of the following learning objectives: 1) to become familiar with the key environmental and social issues affecting business today, 2) to understand the evolution of corporate response—from compliance to engagement to innovation, 3) to develop some of the skills required for leading in this new social and political environment (e.g. multi-stakeholder management), 4) to explore the efficiencies and innovations being developed by corporate leaders in pursuit of sustainability, 5) to explore innovations in sustainable finance, 6) to become familiar with the latest consumer insight research on sustainability, 7) be able to design an effective embedded sustainability strategy that will deliver competitive advantage. In short, this course is multi-disciplinary, and seeks to integrate across the functions of the firm to arrive at an effective firm-wide leadership sensibility

 

Discipline

BSPA-UB 67 Accounting for Sustainability*

Professor Atz | MW 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM | In-Person

 

The main objective of the course is to equip the student with the knowledge required for the understanding as to how to measure, evaluate and disclose social and environmental corporate performance. For this reason, the course will emphasize the interplay between sustainability strategy, organizational architecture and performance, providing the practical knowledge and insights for embedding sustainability into the corporate DNA as daily practice.

 

ACCT-UB 53 Renewable Energy and Electric Vehicle Industry*

Professor Dhananjay | MW 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM | In-Person

 

This course analyzes renewable energy and electric vehicles industries from the perspective of someone who wants to start these businesses, manage them, or invest in them. It covers the following: (1) The business drivers for key renewable energy and electric vehicle technologies and their trends (2) Simplified financial models of renewable energy projects (3) Understanding and analyzing financial statements of renewable energy companies and electric vehicles companies.

 

BSPA-UB 48 The Theory and Practice of Sustainable Investing

Professor Krosinsky | MW 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM | In-Person

 

1st century investors face a broadening and deepening array of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) risks and opportunities. Climate change, water scarcity, community conflict, resource depletion, supply chain breakdowns, worker well-being and economic inequality pose material challenges that make sustainability an imperative for successful investors and the companies they choose to invest in. This course will couple theory with the practice of Sustainable Investing (SI). We will examine current ESG investment and corporate strategies, trends, future scenarios, players, and frameworks and integrate that theory with practical investment performance analysis, metrics, and studies of data, screens, asset classes, and diversification. The course maximizes student interaction with industry leaders and is taught through a mix of case studies, analyst reports, and lectures. Students gain perspectives from assessing fund manager strategies and perform quantitative and qualitative analysis in conjunction with the development of stock pitches for possible direct investment as concentrated positions within a portfolio.

 

FINC-GB 2375 Managing Climate, Cyber, Geopolitical, and Financial Risk

Professor Berner | TR 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM | Online

 

Businesses and governments now face a growing and immediate array of non financial risks, including climate-related, cyber and operational, and geopolitical risks. Precisely because these critical risks are hard to measure and analyze, firms are putting new resources – people and money– to work to anticipate, manage and mitigate them. To address cybersecurity risks, for example, JP Morgan alone has 3000 employees and spends $600 million annually. Firms are only starting to grapple with existential climate-related risks. And startups are mushrooming to provide assessments to businesses. This course will study these risks alongside financial risks. It will outline frameworks for measuring, assessing and analyzing them, and for actions needed to meet them. We will examine case studies of climate, cyber and geopolitical risks, including from current events. Finally, we will study whether and how the information in financial markets can both inform the assessment of these risks and potentially provide tools to transfer, insure against or hedge them.
 

*These are two credit courses designed to be taken in tandem.  Both will be offered starting in spring 2024 - one in the first 7 weeks of the term and the other in the second.  Please check Albert for more details.
 

Issue Area

BSPA-UB 41 Social Entrepreneurship

Professor Davis | TR 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM | In-Person

 

Social Entrepreneurship is an emerging and rapidly changing business field that examines the practice of identifying, starting and growing successful mission-driven for-profit and nonprofit ventures—that is, organizations that strive to advance social change through innovative solutions. This course, rooted in stakeholder theory, is designed to provide a socially relevant academic experience in order to help students gain in-depth insights into economic and social value creation across a number of areas including poverty alleviation, energy, health and sustainability. Students will have the opportunity to find and test new ideas and solutions to social problems, create sustainable business models, identify funding options and alternatives, learn about evolving legal and governance structures, learn how to measure social impact and scale a social enterprise to name a few. This course will provide students with a toolkit and frameworks that can be used to start a social venture, applied within a social venture or within other types of organizations to influence social change.

Note: Social Entrepreneurship BSPA UB 9041 is also being offered at NYU Washington DC with professor Gowdar 

 

BSPA-UB 47 Global Business and Human Rights

Professor Gu & Khan | TR 3.30 PM - 4.45 PM | In-Person

 

One of the only classes of its kind at the undergraduate level, this is an advanced-level class for juniors and seniors that will focus on human rights law and practice, and how the human rights framework applies to business. Students will learn about the theoretical foundations of human rights, the evolving role of business in modern society, and analyze case studies of how companies have been challenged by human rights issues in fashion, investing, social media, and food and beverage, among other sectors. Classes will consist of interactive lectures, stakeholder role play exercises, topical debates, and presentations.

 

BSPA-GB 2308 Driving Market Solutions for Clean Energy

Professor Gowrishankar & Berlin | M 6.00 PM - 9.00 PM | In-Person

 

This course is designed to provide students with a rich understanding of the economy-wide energy transitions that are needed in the United States to help curb climate change, with an emphasis on how the private sector can drive such changes. As relevant background, the course will cover energy-related macroeconomic concepts and trends, and provide environmental and international context. It will draw on the instructor’s diverse experiences, readings and other media, classroom discussions, case studies, visiting speakers, and group projects, to explore and debate how such ambitious but necessary transformations may be brought about.

Note: Undergraduates must get special permission to enroll in this graduate level course

 

Practicum

BSPA-UB 70 Social Innovation Practicum

Professor Taparia | R 6.20 PM - 9.00 PM | In-Person

 

This course is designed to help students gain actionable insights into the nexus between economic and social value creation. Specifically, the purpose is to provide students with hands-on exposure to the entrepreneurial pursuit of social impact and innovation. As a result of this course, students will gain: Increased ability to recognize and critically assess various forms of social enterprise strategies as tools of economic development and social transformation; Greater understanding of the challenges of growing and sustaining a social enterprise, as well as special insights into enterprise development and growth; Improved consulting skills, including project planning, issue analysis, formulation of strategic and tactical recommendations, and client relationship management. By participating in the course, students will be better able to adapt and apply business skills and academic disciplines in the social sector, and will have increased skills for effective and thoughtful leadership in business and society throughout their careers.

 

PADM-GP 4316 NYU Impact Investment Fund I + II

Note: this course is now a full year commitment. All rising juniors and seniors not studying abroad next academic year are welcome to apply in the spring. Please note that the course runs from September to May on Wednesdays from 12-1:20 PM.