Travel Courses
Experience Business All Over the World
When we say we are the most connected school to business, we mean it. Each year, Heider College of Business students and faculty travel to various cities both domestic and abroad to experience business first-hand.
Our travel courses grant students credit they need toward graduation and allows them to immerse themselves in another culture, meet Creighton alumni who are living and working in these markets, and find out what it really takes to be successful in a variety of industries.
Where Will Your Business Education Take You?
Travel courses offer students a way to “study abroad” and explore new areas in an academic setting, but for a shorter period than a semester-long course. They allow students to learn how companies operate within different cultures and economic settings.
Australia
From the Jesuit Refugee Service to Ingal Civil (a Valmont Industries Company) and Bloomberg Australia, students and faculty explore an eclectic sampling of southeast Australia’s corporate, cultural and geographical offerings during the annual Australia travel course.
Non-business stops include the Sydney Opera House and the famed Bondi Beach, Melbourne Park and the Great Ocean Road Tour.
The Australia travel course is sponsored by the Heider College of Business but open to all Creighton students.
China
“China is a dynamic, evolving, deeply historical place,” says Andrew Gustafson, PhD, associate professor of business ethics and society. “The world economy cannot be understood or predicted well without a fairly good understanding of China. It is, after all, the home of more than 20% of the world’s population.” So, Dr. Gustafson co-created a travel course to the Pearl River Delta.
The class visits three key cities in the Southern Guangdong region — Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Macau — to learn about the rapidly changing Chinese world of business and to compare the cultural and economic differences between the three cities.
Highlights of the trip include traditional Chinese business dinners and exclusive tours at companies that have Omaha connections. These direct connections provide Creighton students with an international network and increased opportunities for internships and employment in Southeast Asia.
Dominican Republic
The Practicum for International Development in the Dominican Republic combines three academic disciplines – business, Spanish and technology – into one powerful experience. This service-learning course focuses on the deployment of educational technology, the BlueBox, at numerous sites in the Dominican Republic during fall break.
Students train teachers on the technology’s use and dialogue with school and community leaders as well as examine and reflect on the cultural and economic realities of life in the rural Dominican Republic. Upon return to campus, students use the feedback they received from the DR community to identify new ways to enhance the BlueBox project, forming interdisciplinary project teams to bring these ideas to fruition.
Las Vegas
“Not only do we visit these world-renowned glamorous casinos and event venues, but we also explore what concerns residents and government officials have about development, like water issues, and consider societal issues, like the impact of gaming on local culture and consider economic and ethical issues regarding employees, development and treatment of customers,” says Andrew Gustafson, PhD, associate professor of business ethics and society.
Students meet with managers of several large casino operations and visit companies such as the Howard Hughes Corporation, who created planned housing developments for over 100,000 residents in the Summerlin neighborhood in west Las Vegas. The multi-dimensional nature of this travel course has proven to be very impactful on the students who have gone.
New York
The New York Travel Course connects finance and accounting seniors with the dynamic corporate environment of Wall Street and greater New York City. During this course, students conduct in-depth research on the companies they will be visiting. With this background information in mind, students embark on the travel component of the course prepared to learn through strategic discussions and roundtable conversations with professionals in their field of interest.
This travel course offer so much more than a simple tour. It provides networking opportunities that bridge the student's experience with their future professional life.
San Francisco
Business on the Western Frontier exposes marketing and business intelligence and analytics students to a variety of tech, retail and service businesses in San Francisco. This course, open to sophomores, juniors and seniors, is a great opportunity for students to build connections and engage in internships in the Bay Area.
Students and faculty tour the headquarters of tech giants like Google, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn; and then do a day-trip to the famed Pebble Beach golf mecca or take a detour to Wine Country. Students on this travel course also get to meet with several alumni living in the area, like Amanda Damisch, BA’08, MS’09, founding member of Facebook’s global ethics and compliance program, or Don Waite, business alumni and founder of data storage giant Seagate Technology.
Contact
Maren Pierce
Associate Director of Outreach
Heider College of Business
402.280.2480
AnnaMarenPierce@creighton.edu
Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central
