The purpose of this course is to expose students to Russia’s business environment during the country’s rise to power nearly 100 years ago as well as the relatively newly forming business climate in the post-Soviet era. To do so, we will spend time in both metropolitan and rural Russia. The course will begin in Moscow – the epicenter of Russian business and home to more billionaire’s than any other European city. We’ll visit the Skolkovo Innovation Center, a cutting edge, 1,000 acre city devoted to promoting entrepreneurship in Russia. In contrast, we’ll also visit the first ever nuclear power plant (now inactive so no danger of radiation), built in the 1950s under communist rule. While in Moscow, students will also visit St. Basil’s Cathedral, Red Square, and the world-famous Bolshoi Theater. From Moscow we will board an overnight sleeper train to Pskov, where we’ll meet with The Children’s Fund, a local nonprofit that Dr. Creek has worked with in the past. We’ll also visit a medieval citadel, the Pskov Krom. Next we’ll travel to Porkhov, a small town where Dr. Creek’s wife, Irina, spent nearly ten years in an orphanage. We’ll be working with the orphanage to see how business training might be able to help recent orphanage graduates overcome poverty, a common situation for most students leaving the orphanage. In Porkhov, we’ll also visit the home of Irina’s ex-caretaker where we’ll enjoy a homemade Russian meal and banya (Russian sauna). We’ll then head to Novgorod, a city which can be traced back to the 8th century. We’ve partnered with Novgorod State University to spend a two nights on campus and interact with some faculty/students there. Lastly, we’ll take a train north to Saint Petersburg. Here, we’ll tour the Raketa Watch Factory and visit both the Winter Palace and Grand Peterhof Palace. We’ll also visit the Port of Saint Petersburg, which accounts for 20% of all cargo traveling to and from Russia. We’ll close the trip aboard a party boat and watch the drawbridges of the city open for the barges to enter the Neva River.
Courses
MGT 4530 - Special Topic: Business in Russia During and Post-Communism. 3 credit hours. Instructor: Steven Creek; Michael Young
MBA 5020 - Russia - International Experience. 3 credit hours. Instructor: Steven Creek; Michael Young
Credits (3 credit hours)
MGT 4530 - This course counts as an IB elective (major, approved, required or other), HOS elective, COB elective or upper level elective and fulfills the Global Issues requirement.
MBA 5020 - This 3 semester hour course fulfills the international requirement for the MBA program and is an elective for the international business concentration.
Cost
TBD - final cost will be posted upon official program approval.
Note: This program is awaiting official approval. Dates and itinerary subject to change. Please contact the program leader if you are interested in learning more about this program.
Leaders
Steven Creek
creeksa@appstate.edu
828-262-6217 or cell: 509-339-3114
Walker College of Business
