Curriculum for Marketing Degree

Students will discover and develop the entrepreneurial mindset that is critical to succeed in today's dynamic business environment so that they will be able to imagine, create, identify, assess, and act on business opportunities in a variety of contexts and organizations. Through real-world examples and hands-on activities, students will embrace an entrepreneurial and strength-based mindsets that will facilitate their understanding of the major functions of business and the relationships between them, as well as the importance of self-inquiry and teamwork.

In this introductory marketing course, students will learn the foundations of marketing including how to develop the marketing mix (product, price place, promotion) for goods, ideas or services. Students will apply what they have learned as they respond to current issues, case study questions and develop a marketing plan for a real organization. Students will learn how to function within successful teams as they engage with actual businesses to analyze and recommend market-driven solutions to real-world business challenges and opportunities.

Students will learn the marketing research process that underpins informed decision making by marketing managers throughout the strategic marketing process. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method analyses will be highlighted with special attention paid to the commonly used data collection methods and the criteria used to determine which is most appropriate in any given research program.

Students will develop a resonant, data-driven, and ethically sound Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign for a real-world client. Utilizing all elements of the promotional mix, they will design this IMC campaign to achieve all objectives set forth by the client.

Students will examine the concept of Activist Marketing, exploring what it means for a brand/business to lead with their values and be an advocate for social change movements. Using the 6 P's of Brand Activism developed by Ben and Jerry's--Purpose, Policy, People, Power, Publishing and Pop Culture--students will investigate brands and their history of activism to answer the question, Can brands really be activists if their ultimate goal is to sell a product?

Students will learn how to utilize digital platforms as part of a comprehensive and integrated marketing strategy. Through a mix of strategy, professional certification(s), and hands-on application, students will navigate the digital marketing ecosystem and apply best practices in the field.

In this upper level marketing course, students will explore in depth a current topic in marketing that is impacting society and business. Given the ever changing nature of marketing there are always new areas to explore, and this course will allow students of all disciplines to engage with an important emerging topic selected by the instructor. This is a required course for marketing students and an elective option for all other majors.