Current Connections: Controversy, Civility, and Relevance in the Executive Business Classroom

Abstract

To connect course material to executive MBA student workplace experiences and current events more clearly, we created an online space for students to bring up relevant workplace experiences or to post links to articles on domestic and international developments relevant to the week’s course topics and materials. The activity has brought forth significant student interactions online and in the classroom and paves the way for robust classroom discussion as well. Although we created this activity for executive MBA students, we believe it can also be used in other business courses, both graduate and undergraduate. With the experiences that executive MBA students bring, however, the interactions become especially helpful for modeling civility around difficult and divisive issues in business and society.