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Private Governance

The certificate in Private Governance connects scholarship and action to prepare students for postgraduate work in private organizations. Private governance is a crucial part of life. It ranges from individual responsibility and initiative (self regulation) to informal social control and formal governance in firms and in not-for-profit organizations. It reckons with conscience, reliance, power, interest, incentives, ethics, norms, teamwork, hierarchy, competition, voice, exit, entrepreneurship, and leadership. The three components of the certificate bridge study and
action. Students learn to discern motivations, analyze decisions, identify strengths and
weaknesses in governance, and understand creativity, entrepreneurship, and leadership. They
develop these valuable skills in real-world settings, by applying concepts from courses to their field experiences, and by working with a faculty member on research in the wild or as a mentor to new students.

Students who complete this certificate will:

  • Learn ways in which theories from social science help them analyze how people form organizations to pursue collective goals.
  • Observe real world examples of organizations attempting to elicit cooperative and mutually beneficial behavior among groups and individuals.
  • Participate in experiential internships and/or research to observe how the social science theories they study apply in practice.

This certificate is open to any student interested in building a bridge between their area of academic focus and the study of governance and private organizations.

Credit 1: Academic course
AHIS 282 –  20th-Century Avant Garde in Painting and Sculpture
LACS 215 – Reading Climate: Literature to Action
FORG 230 – Innovations for Organizations
FORG 280 –  College
FORG 302 – Entrepreneurship Seminar
FORG 325 – Sports
PHIL 339 – The Birth of Modern Ethics
PSYC 344 – Evaluation and Treatment of Addictive Behavior
THDN 301 – Directing/Devising Performance

Credit 2: Field Seminar
FORG 210 – Internship with Seminar I: Behavior in Organizations
FORG 211 – Internship with Seminar II: Normative Analysis of Organizations

1 course credit (0.5 course credit for the internship plus 0.5 course credit for the seminar)

Credit 3: Individual or Team Experience under faculty supervision
Summer fellowship
Research experience with a faculty member
First Year Seminar mentorship

1 course credit

For more information, students should contact Professor Edward Stringham.