Social Entrepreneurship equips students with the process, skills, and knowledge they require to shine the light and solve the riddle for a variety of wicked, interdisciplinary consumer problems in society.
Four Core Classes
1. 4010/6010 Introduction to Social Entrepreneurship
- An end-to-end introduction to shining the light and solving the riddle in social entrepreneurship.
- Semester-long class project guided by lectures that introduce key concepts.
2. 4011/6011 Strategic Storytelling
- A focus on the shine the light portion of social entrepreneurship.
- Semester project is identifying a social need, gathering evidence related to the need, translating that evidence into a grounded, strategic story, and sharing that story to shine the light on the need.
3. 4051/6051 Social Impact Communication
- A focus on the solve the riddle portion of social entrepreneurship.
- Semester project is taking an identified need, developing a realistic yet innovative idea, designing at least one solution related to the need, estimating the odds of success, and persuading others to join you in pursuing the solution.
4. 5011/7011 Social Entrepreneurship Capstone
- And end-to-end capstone project to demonstrate mastery of the social entrepreneurship process and establish student's reputation in their chosen domain post-graduation.
- Semester project that shines the light and solves the riddle for the sudent's chosen topic.
Flexible Major Requirements
To complete this major, students take the four core classes above. Then they craft their focus area (15 credit hours) from courses across campus based on their unique interests.
Examples of focus areas:
- Emerging adulthood
- Narrative health
- Community revitalization
In addition, students choose 12 hours for major electives from any available course across campus and 9 hours from courses offered in FACS. They will work with their advisor and program faculty to select the courses that will best prepare them for their intended area of work.
Diverse Careers
UGA graduates majoring in Social Entrepreneurship have found employment in diverse areas including:
- Public relations for a child/family related organization such as the Children's Health Care of Atlanta
- An Event Planner at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta in the Sports Network Department
- Editor of the Entertainment page at CNN.com
- Freelance work for ESPN, CBS, and other major networks.
Job Titles
- Director of Public Affairs, Communications, and Tourism, City of Conyers
- Marketing Manager, Betty Crocker Appliances
- Marketing Assistant, Savannah Foods and Industries
- Channel Development Representative, Business Objects America
- Partner, International Stream (streaming media consultants)
- Conference Planner, Continuing Education Department, Medical College of Georgia
- Owner, The Quadrillion (full service marketing, training, and image development firm)
- Events Manager, Georgia Center for Continuing Education, University of Georgia
- Community Relations Coordinator, Celtics Basketball, L.P.
- Associate Director of Development, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia
Requirements
Requirements include completion of the core courses to build skill in design thinking for consumer well-being plus courses from across campus related to the student's chosen focus area to build domain expertise. The major includes 13 hours of core courses, 15 hours in the focus area, 9 hours from FACS, 12 hours of major electives (with 6 from FACS), and 13 hours of general electives.
Faculty Members
Yilang Peng
Assistant Professor
Dee Warmath
Assistant Professor
I chose the Social Entrepreneurship major in FACS because I wanted a major that allowed me to combine my love for non-profits and education. This major has four core classes structured around learning about social enterprise and the depth of social problems. This program also allows for the student to choose their own non-profit focus area, so I chose education access and advocacy.
I chose this major because of its interdisciplinary nature. I loved the idea of being able to hand-select my classes in a way that would reflect my specific interests. Thus, the opportunity to take classes in both Grady and FACS enabled me to broaden my array of knowledge, and ultimately allowed me to find a passion for governmental affairs and policy through this journey.