(1) Professor Gupta’s academic course on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
This week we finally got started with our in class instruction for the Corporate Social Responsibility course. Although communicating effectively with two groups and Professor Gupta took some time, I think we were able to create an environment that will be conducive to open group discussions. On the subject of group discussions, we were able to have many interesting ones this week. On Monday, we discussed Cooper’s Wall Street Journal entry regarding the impacts of social media mental health. It was really interesting to hear the different roles that social media plays in all of my classmates’ lives and to evaluate its impact on my own. Additionally, we watched two videos this week on Adam Smith and completed group assignments on the benefits of a free market economy. I thought the video was interesting and I enjoyed being able to also have conversations in smaller groups.
(2) Professors Swain and Gupta’s Internship Seminar
This week in Professor Swain’s internship seminar we had a group discussion about our personal culture profiles, and got to hear from our peers about what we think shapes our attitudes towards success, workplace culture, and career goals. We also discussed the “Head or the Heart” article and evaluated it on the metrics of the personal culture profile, assigning different traits for the differing workplace attitudes of other cultures. My favorite part of the seminar this week was our debate on the ethical and moral dilemmas set forth in the “Parable of the Sadhu” article. It really made me consider where my opinions lie in regards to helping others and our moral duties as humans to do so, and I appreciated hearing both sides of the argument in the in-class debate.
(3) a Practicum in Milan with an Italian Company
This week in my internship with Turbo Crowd I got to attend a full team meeting for the first time, which was a great opportunity to put faces to names. The majority of the meeting was in Italian, which was a bit confusing obviously, but still a great experience overall. This week I ran into some challenges using the data scraping software Octoparse, but learned a lot more in our meeting on Wednesday. This week, I think I got into a much better schedule for virtual work and was able to be a lot more productive. In the coming weeks, the team is trying to organize a lunch at our bosses house so that we can work out some details for our project in person. I am looking forward to it!
(4) Social and Cultural immersion through travels in Italy and Europe
This week I stayed in Milan mostly, but explored some new spots. On Monday, myself and some friends decided to take a break from Italian food and went to Misushi, a sushi restaurant close to Aparto. It was really fun to try out a new place with friends! This week I have also been exploring more of the area surrounding our housing by going on runs. I have found several new parks to run around and explored the canals earlier this week. It’s been a great way to get to know the city a little bit better. On Thursday, we attended a wine tasting with the whole group, and got to learn more about how to analyze the different flavors and qualities of different wines, which is something I had never done before. I thought it was really cool to hear from someone who knew so much about a subject that I knew absolutely nothing about, and it was great to hang out with friends. This weekend, we will be going to Lake Como and I look forward to seeing a different part of Italy.
