All courses are subject to confirmation.
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Brand & Product Management
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course provides training in understanding brand management and the critical stages of new product development, from idea generation to the implementation of new concepts and strategies.
It prepares executives to make decisions regarding brand management as a key differentiating element for products.
The course covers topics such as brand meaning and essence, associations, brand health and brand architecture.
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From Steam to AI - Economic and Business History
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course studies the evolution of the international economy from the Industrial Revolution to the present day. It is an interdisciplinary investigation of the nature, origins, causes, and effects of global change on human welfare since 1800.
Classes cover both developed and developing countries and draw on economic history, demographics and statistical data to explain how the world economy came to be where it is today, focusing on the success and failure of several key countries and regions.
Long-term changes in world income and population are quantified, the different phases of modern economic growth, the impact of major historical events on the world economy, as well as the transformations of global economic institutions are included.
Throughout the course, the case of the Latin American economy is discussed in more detail to facilitate its overall assessment: what have been the factors and obstacles to its modernisation.
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Gender and Environment
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: Environmental issues have an uneven impact on different populations. Moreover, current policies to address these issues result in greater gender- and identity-based inequality. In this course, students will examine gender inequalities related to water pollution, climate change, and agricultural fumigation, as well as analyze the link between women/femininity and nature through the lens of ecofeminism.
Offered with USAC.
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Geopolitical Risk & Business
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course will provide students with an analytical toolkit to produce intelligence briefings and reports to assist organizations navigate through challenging situations.
We seek to bridge the gap between industry and academia, helping students develop professional outlooks to assist their future job placement and career development.
To benefit from this opportunity, participants must necessarily demonstrate advanced English language skills.
The course is chiefly designed for students of political science, international relations, foreign trade, and management.
A general awareness of global affairs will help students succeed in this course, though students may enrol without prior knowledge of geopolitics.
Students will be required to read field literature and political risk industry reports before engaging in practical exercises.
Classes are meant to be interactive, and participation will be considered while grading student performance.
Participants will undergo training to work on their writing and analytical skills in a feedback environment.
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Global Civil Society
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course aims at providing students with both a conceptual and empirical framework so they can form an opinion about the existence, functions, transformative potential and challenges faced by civil society activism in an increasingly globalized world.
In a disciplinary field dominated by the study of relations between nation-states in an environment that is defined as either fully anarchic or tempered by the action of intergovernmental organizations, we intend to focus on a set of non-governmental actors: domestic and international civil society organizations, social movements and networks of transnational activism.
Our reflection is triggered by a few, deceptively simple questions:
- Is there such thing as a global civil society?
- How global is global civil society?
- What are its sources of power and legitimacy?
- What impact does it have on an international stage that has not assigned it a leading role?
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Global Management
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: The objective of this course is for each student to be able to know, understand and apply the fundamentals of managing organizations in global contexts.
Students will complete an array of specific activities, related to each of the key managerial concepts, as well as immerse themselves in practical applications related to today’s complex business world.
By the end of the semester, students will:
- Understand the global framework and environment in which contemporary organizations must thrive.
- Be able to assess how firms manage on the global stage.
- Be able to critically analyse organizational case situations in each of the four functions of management (Planning, Organizing, Leading and Controlling).
- Grasp the main competences managers must develop to succeed and have a thorough understanding of the skills, abilities, and tools needed in today’s competitive and global world, and be able to identify and use appropriate management techniques and tools for managing organizations in global contexts.
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Human Rights and Armed Conflicts
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course provides a basic introduction to international human rights, their conceptual and historical foundations and institutions aimed at protecting them.
It also focuses on the international legal regulation of armed conflict – including humanitarian law, human rights law and international criminal law.
The purpose of the course is to offer an understanding of the legal challenges of current and future armed conflicts, by analysing and evaluating concrete contemporary cases around the world.
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Intercultural Negotiation
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: The foundation of successful intercultural negotiation is advanced knowledge and usage of various tools. Typical negotiation strategies are not applicable in multicultural settings. Students will explore various readings, case studies, and mock negotiations to acquire the theoretical knowledge and skills to successfully negotiate in multicultural settings.
Offered with USAC.
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International Business: Latin America
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course will help students gain a better understanding of the global business environment and enable them to develop effective management strategies across a range of international market environments in Latin America. In particular, we will focus on the role of culture in leadership, communication, motivation, negotiation, decision making, HRM practices, and the management of a multicultural workforce abroad or at home. Latin America, from Mexico to the very Southern Tip of Argentina and Chile (passing by Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, Colombia, Perú, Brazil, and Uruguay, among others) presents an unique personality, with business techniques and processes that need to be adapted to its complex and rich cultural diversity, reflected on the way business are done here as well.
Offered with USAC.
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International Human Rights
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course examines the international human rights system and its institutional framework, from its philosophical foundations to its contemporary challenges.
The first part of the course introduces the concept of human rights, their historical development, and the main international legal instruments that form the foundation of the international human rights system.
It analyses the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the core human rights treaties, including civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights.
The second part focuses on the institutional mechanisms for human rights protection and promotion, including UN organs, treaty bodies, special procedures, and regional systems, with particular emphasis on the Inter-American human rights system.
The course also examines the crucial role of civil society organizations and advocacy networks in the promotion and enforcement of human rights.
Throughout the course, we will explore key questions:
- How do human rights institutions function?
- What is their effectiveness in protecting and promoting human rights?
- How do states comply with human rights obligations?
- What role do non-state actors play in the human rights system?
- How do regional and global mechanisms complement each other?
- What are the current challenges facing the international human rights system?
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International Project Management
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: The course is designed around the fundamental stages of the project lifecycle, providing a framework for progress: strategic framework, identification, definition, planning, organization for execution, execution, control, and closure or conclusion.
It also highlights the various knowledge areas essential for effective project management, including objectives, costs, time, quality, human resources, communications, and risks, by presenting valuable techniques and tools for each stage.
Furthermore, the subject has evolved to incorporate new trends in project management while maintaining its crucial role of offering a rigorous methodology for achieving objectives during project development and execution.
Specifically, there is a greater emphasis on utilizing technological collaboration tools, enhancing communication and team management, and leveraging technological support, especially in the context of virtual and geographically distributed teams.
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Latin American Social Revolutions
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course examines the chain of events and situations that led to deep social and political changes in Latin American during the XX Century, including the highly influential panorama of the Cold War years, and the socio-political situation in the region that led to the Peronist Movement in Argentina and its fall, plus the follow-up of military “juntas”. It will also analyze the building of the highly accomplished Uruguayan Swiss style democracy and the complex and circumstances of the irruption of the armed groups of Marxist orientations in the early 60’s, the increasing social violence that led to the Uruguayan Civic Military Dictatorship of the 70's and 80's. The connections between the two processes will also be studied, as well as the influence on them of the Cuban revolution, the Chile of Allende and the Brazilian case in the same period.
Offered with USAC.
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Latin American Women’s Voices
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course introduces the concept of gender and focuses on the role of local feminist organizations in the struggle for gender equality. It is an opportunity to explore the human rights situation for women in Uruguay and Río de la Plata. The course will analyze the main struggles of women’s movements in Uruguay, from the end of the dictatorship (1985) until now. By inviting some critical characters from cultural and political life, attending special events, and visiting women NGOs, the group will have the chance to discuss these topics firsthand with women that are part of these processes.
Offered with USAC.
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Modern Latin American Society
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course looks at essential topics shaping Latin American society today, including gender, race, indigenous resistance, immigration, and the drug trade. First, students will evaluate each topic's historical development, current characteristics, and manifestations in cultural products like art, film, and telenovelas. Then, through local news sources and interviews with area residents, they will analyze how these topics affect Uruguay and Argentina. In the end, students will be able to discuss the relationship between politics, economics, society, and culture and how general Latin American issues affect different regions in different ways.
Offered with USAC.
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Natural Resource Management
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course addresses the great problem of life on earth in the 21st century: how to preserve and protect natural resources throughout the world while developing ways in which the environment can be maintained and managed to meet our needs and ensure our ongoing survival. Due to the threats posed to our planet by dwindling resources and climate change, the management of natural resources is of extreme importance and requires rethinking human interactions with the environment and the balancing of uses, needs, and values in the area of natural resources.
Offered with USAC.
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Operations Management
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course covers business management principles applied to the operations of all sorts of organizations in any kind of industry. The course provides an introduction and development to a broad range of issues in operations management for both production and service industries. Learn key strategies of operations management including effective planning, problem solving and decision making, management in a globalized and culturally diverse reality, and human resources/talent management. Whether you are a major manufacturer, a small business owner, or just want to pursue a career in management, understanding the principles of operations management is critical to success.
Offered with USAC.
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Rio de la Plata, People and Culture
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course offers a comprehensive historical and cultural introduction to the Río de la Plata region—primarily Uruguay and Argentina, including southern Brazil—from pre-Hispanic times to the present. It covers, up to the 1850s, the pre-conquest Indigenous populations, Spanish conquest and settlement, colonial institutions, the British invasions, Spanish-Portuguese rivalry, and the independence movements; from the 1850s to the 1950s, it examines European immigration waves, the development of export-driven economies, democratization processes, and the creation of Latin America’s first welfare state in Uruguay; and from the 1950s to today, it analyzes the impact of the Cuban Revolution, the rise of the Tupamaro urban guerrilla in Uruguay, and other contemporary issues. The course also explores the foundations of Buenos Aires and Montevideo, as well as the influence of European migration on the cultural patterns that shape Río de la Plata identity, including iconic regional features such as gauchos, mate, tango, asado, and football, all studied from a historical-cultural perspective.
Offered with USAC.
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Sales Strategic Management
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: The Sales Strategic Management course aims to provide students with essential skills and knowledge for success in the dynamic field of sales.
Throughout the course, students will develop a profound understanding of the principles and practices that underpin effective sales strategies.
The primary objectives include fostering the ability to analyse market trends, identify customer needs, and formulate strategic approaches to meet sales targets.
Students will also gain proficiency in leveraging various communication channels, honing their skills in oral presentations, written communication, and the use of multimedia tools to effectively convey sales messages.
Additionally, the course seeks to instil a strategic mindset, encouraging students to critically assess and adapt sales strategies in response to evolving market conditions.
By the end of the program, students will be well-prepared to contribute strategically to sales initiatives, demonstrating a nuanced understanding of customer relationship management, market dynamics, and the broader business context.
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South America in Turmoil
(48 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits, spring, and fall term)
Course description: This seminar will attempt to highlight the social and institutional challenges that the region faces.
Firstly, we will briefly discuss the evolving political and ideological landscape of the last thirty years.
Secondly, and because it's essential to understand political behaviour and partisan support and the cross-national differences, we will highlight in an introductory manner the relevant theories explaining the attitudes and preferences of voters and how representation and demands are structured by political actors.
Thirdly, we will focus on the underpinnings of democratic consolidation and the risks of authoritarian temptations.
Finally, we will centre on social evolution, new forms of political participation and the conflicts that may arise from competing views, discrimination or unfulfilled representation.
Throughout the seminar, important emphasis will be placed on the recent wave of social unrest and protests that have spread across the continent.
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Sports Marketing
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course covers topics related to the specialized field of Sports Marketing and its role in society. The focus is on the business and marketing management of sports teams and sports leagues. Subjects include sports sponsorships, endorsements, naming rights, licensing, facility design and the fan experience, merchandising, ticket sales and pricing, fan passion, and the role of gambling in sports, among others. Besides the assigned readings, Sports/ Business films & documentaries will be used throughout the semester as a gateway to discuss different aspects of Sports Marketing from a variety of perspectives.
Offered with USAC.
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Startups and Entrepreneurship
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: The entrepreneurial spirit is within each student and is not something that can be taught. Students will enhance the natural entrepreneurial spirit by providing practical skills training and exposing students to the process of turning ideas into products. Students will explore a variety of frameworks and concepts used for discovery, business, and management. Guest speakers are also scheduled throughout the course to ensure students gain valuable information regarding software, tourism, and the food industries.
Offered with USAC.
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Strategy and Competition
(64 contact hours, 7 ECTS credits)
Course description: In this capstone course, students use and integrate the management knowledge, tools, and skills they have acquired throughout their studies formulating business strategies that consider industry structure and a company’s resources and capabilities, placing particular emphasis on the practical feasibility of the proposals they formulate.
This is achieved through the extensive use of Harvard Business School-style case studies.
Field work on a specific company –usually in an industry undergoing some sort of transition– is required.
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Sustainability in Latin America
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: The environment is central to our lives, and maintaining it is one of the significant world challenges humanity faces. What are the risks? How do we recognize them? And what are some of the solutions to improve environmental sustainability? Topics include sustainable development concepts, limits of the planet, environmental policies, and alternatives beyond development.
Offered with USAC
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Women's Health: Global Health and Human Rights
(45 contact hours, 6 ECTS credits)
Course description: This course will explore global issues in women's healthcare, with an emphasis on understanding the unique health and wellness needs of women and their vulnerability when navigating healthcare systems.
Offered with USAC.