Memo
To: Lindsey Donhauser
From: Matthew Lawler
Date: February 22, 2013
Subject: Suggested Class for Business Students
Business Students Should Diversify Class Choices
Expanding academic horizons is absolutely crucial for students who wish to set themselves
apart from their peers. In the Wall Street Journal article entitled “Wealth or Waste: Rethinking
the Value of a Business Major,” Melissa Korn highlighted the need for students to get more
instruction on how to think critically and solve problems (Korn, 2012). While many of the
business majors at Arizona State University have a shared core of classes, every semester
students have the opportunity to choose a few electives. Some students may use this
opportunity to either find an easy and probably irrelevant class, or they can choose a class that
may help them hone in on the skills they don’t practice in business classes. The majority of
business classes are large lecture style courses, which is unsuitable for a debate style course.
I Recommend Philosophy 305
Students should find classes that force them to apply critical thinking skills, debating, and
problem solving to help make themselves more marketable. I would recommend taking the
class Philosophy 305 Ethical Theory. This class doesn’t discuss right from wrong, but rather
where the idea of what is right and wrong in different cultures comes from. Why our morals are
shaped the way they are (Portmore, 2013). This class seems suitable for several reasons. One
reason is that the syllabus states the objective as “To foster students’ abilities to think critically,
analyze complex problems, evaluate arguments, and argue cogently for their own views.”
(Portmore, 2013). These are the very things students need to develop in classes outside the
required courses. The jobs that await all business students will cause them to encounter
“complex problems,” and classes such as this better equip students to face these challenges
head on.
Summary
I found this class by first considering possible fields of study that would challenge me in new
and interesting ways. I picked philosophy because it focuses more on open ended, possibly
impossible questions, rather than questions with one correct answer. Using the “Class Search”
feature on MyASU I searched for all upper division Philosophy classes. After reading through
the course descriptions and syllabi, I concluded that Applied Ethics was the best class. This class
does not focus on what is right vs. wrong, but rather what has molded our definitions of the
two. Answering the profound questions this class asks, would take a great deal of logic,
reasoning and critical thinking. These are the three things that a student needs to focus on
when choosing electives.
WORD COUNT: 431
Works Cited
Korn, M. (2012). Wealth or Waste? Rethinking the Value of a Business Major The Wall Street
Journal, 1(1). Retrieved from Wall Street Journal database
Portmore, D. (2013). PHI 305 Ethical Theory Syllabus. [PDF file]. Retrieved February 22, 2013,
from the ASU Class Search website.
[Untitled image of “Parchment Paper”]. (n.d.). [Photograph]. Retrieved February 25, 2013,from
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VGRal3SKPKQ/TaSIeWZjx2I/AAAAAAAAAvA/osA_IC4M0g/s1600/parchment-memories-blank-paper.gif
W. P. Carey School of Business. (2010, April 22). Major Map: Business (Communication)
– Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). [PDF file]. Retrieved February 22, 2013, from
https://webapp4.asu.edu/programs/t5/roadmaps/ASU00/BABUSCBA/2013
/printpdf?init=false&nopassive=true
WORD COUNT: 431