Corporate Social Responsibility

This course on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is central to how business can be engaged in the key issues of our times from global warming, GMOs to social entrepreneurship, marketing ethics to organic food, fair trade, and authentic textiles, among others. In considering sustainability of political and economic systems the CSR approach would allow addressing lack of affordable housing, sweatshops, corruption, local/indigenous communities. We encourage students to consider living-wage movements, ethical marketing practices and codes, and corporate speech and lobbying via campaign finance. The design of the course offers St. Lawrence students a connection to business careers by considering and adapting cutting edge business practices that has now the backing in the Global South, where countries with increasingly sophisticated institutions and leaders are selective on who they partner with. Drawing on case studies, students will be able to select firms and sectors of their choice while learning to use leading library resources as if they are conducting research in a firm. The course welcomes students who are interested in being part of change in a world that is fractured.