Winter Break Just Got Educational
IMMERSION EXPERIENCES: Students who traveled to New Orleans spent time working on Habitat for Humanity redevelopment projects.
Photo by STEPHEN CHEN
Winter break this year gave some 200 MBA students an opportunity to participate in one of three pilot, noncredit Immersion Programs created to provide intensive educational experiences that complement and extend classroom learning. One group explored China, another volunteered their services in New Orleans, and the third participated in a campus-based program focused on health sciences.
For years, students have organized treks, typically weeklong trips abroad or to different parts of the United States, focused on learning about an industry and job opportunities. “What’s different about the Immersion Programs is that they have a significant faculty-led educational component,” said HBS professor Joseph Badaracco, senior associate dean and chair of the MBA Program. “Students will attend seminars before they leave the HBS campus, faculty members will accompany the students and teach classes during the immersion experiences, and faculty and students will debrief when they’re back,” he added. “I think we will soon be looking hard at ways to offer more of these experiences and perhaps even combine them with courses and offer academic credit.”
The China Immersion, January 2–13, took sixty-five students to Beijing, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Sanya, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, where the group experienced firsthand the economic, political, and social developments that have transformed China over the past 25 years. The itinerary included academic and media panel presentations on a variety of topics affecting China and networking events with HBS alumni. Students also met with corporate executives and government officials. HBS professor Richard Vietor, Adjunct Professor David Collis, and Harvard China scholar Professor William Kirby accompanied the group.
The New Orleans Service Immersion, January 3–13, involved forty-five HBS students, faculty, and staff, who devoted their time to education, redevelopment, and rebuilding projects begun the year before during the student-led Hurricane Relief Trek. The experience gave students an opportunity to apply their management skills and make a personal contribution to the city’s recovery. HBS lecturer Stacey Childress, HBS assistant professor Romana Autrey, (a New Orleans native), and HBS senior fellow and director of Career Development Programs Tim Butler joined the students.
The Health-Care Immersion, January 8–12, provided fifty-four students with campus-based lectures and discussions with leading practitioners and researchers from the Boston area, one of the world’s leading medical centers, with an emphasis on business opportunities in the broad field of health sciences. Focusing on different medical specialties each day, the program featured preeminent Harvard scientists such as cancer researcher Dr. Judah Folkman and medical ethicist Dr. Jerry Avorn. HBS faculty also took part. The program included several field trips to local labs, companies, and hospitals.
