This fall, Tulane University launched a new interdisciplinary program aimed at preparing students to take on the challenges of an increasingly interconnected world. It combines business savvy with global thinking say professors of practice Myke Yest and Casey Love, who co-direct the program.

The Altman Program in International Studies & Business is a four-year undergraduate program that brings together advanced language training with business and liberal arts education.

Made possible through an $8.3 million gift from Jeffrey A. Altman, a 1988 Tulane business alumnus, the program targets students who seek a more integrated understanding of global economic, political and social issues.

“It’s an incredible opportunity for students to gain technical business savvy and also the global thinking that comes with a liberal arts degree,” says Yest, who teaches in the A. B. Freeman School of Business and co-directs the program with Love, a senior professor of practice in political science.

Students completing the program will earn both a B.S. in management and a B.A. in a chosen liberal arts discipline such as economics, political science or history, but the program offers more than a dual degree. Each semester the scholars will take one course as a group, pulling together their business and liberal arts training as they explore global issues.

“Our goal is to make sure that the two areas reinforce each other and are being intertwined throughout the program,” says Yest.

The scholars also will devote at least two years to foreign language study and spend their junior year abroad in a foreign-language-speaking country. In summer 2013, they will travel to Costa Rica for a month of service-learning activities combined with a course in cross-cultural communication and business.
 
“Our hope is that after completing the program, Altman Scholars will be able to think in a much more global way,” says Yest.

Mark Miester is the editor of Freeman magazine for the A. B. Freeman School of Business.