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 2025 semester. 

Foundational Course (Required for Specialization)

BSPA-UB 68: Sustainability for Competitive Advantage

Professor Taylor | 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.48: Theory & 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.

BSPA-UB.67: Accounting for Sustainability

Professor O'Connell | MW 2.00 PM - 3.15 PM | In-Person

(NEW Adjunct Professor: Kevin O'Connell, PwC’s Global Asset and Wealth Management (AWM) Sector ESG Leader)

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 Gode | MW 2.00 PM-3.15 PM | In-Person

lease visit https://www.dangode.com/renewables/ for details. 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.

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.

BSPA-UB.47: Global Business & 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.

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.