Innovation & Entrepreneurship Minor
Calling All Thinkers, Doers, Makers, Creators, Performers, & Builders!
The Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) minor enables students pursuing any undergraduate major from all BU schools and colleges to develop their ideas, regardless of their field of expertise, and create tangible economic or social impact.
This minor is not just for those who want to “launch a startup” but for students who want to learn how to be more entrepreneurial in all aspects of their lives. The minor teaches students a set of life skills including identifying unmet needs and new opportunities, leading creativity and ideation, collaboration, prototyping, and testing which can prepare students for careers in many domains.
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Minor Interest Form
Innovation & Entrepreneurship Minor Requirements: 5 Courses
Required (1 course, 4 credits)
Electives (4 courses, 16 credits)
To ensure that all students declaring this minor have equal exposure to innovation and entrepreneurship skills, students will be required to take four electives drawing from three areas.
- Entrepreneurship—must pick 1 and up to 3
These courses teach students how to identify and scope a viable idea or concept that addresses a genuine need and obtain resources to responsibly nurture, support, and grow its development. All students must pick one entrepreneurship course.
- Creating Impact: Domains of Interest—can pick 0, 1, 2, or up to 3
These courses teach students in-depth knowledge of a subject domain where students aim to apply their idea to achieve impact (e.g., social innovation, arts, environment, global development).
- Innovator’s Toolkit—can pick 0, 1, 2, or up to 3 (can pick no more than 1 in Communication)
These courses teach students the skills needed to execute on their idea by researching, managing, developing, leading, communicating, and technically or legally launching their idea into the world.
See the full list of elective offerings in the drop-down menu.
Elective Offerings
Entrepreneurship
(must pick 1, can pick up to 3)
General Entrepreneurship
- QST FE 455 Financing New Ventures
- QST SI 444 Entrepreneurship: Solving Problems in a Dynamic World
- QST SI 445 Managing the Growing Venture
- QST SI 448 Dilemmas in Scaling New Ventures
- QST SI 464 Intellectual Property Strategy
- QST SI 471 International Entrepreneurship
- QST MK466 Personal Selling
- CAS EC 332 Market Structure and Economic Performance
- CAS EC 436 Economics of Corporate Organization
Flavors of Entrepreneurship
- QST SI 480 Business of Tech Innovation
- QST SI 482 Strategy for Tech-Based Firms
- COM FT 591 Media Business Entrepreneurship
- ENG ME 502 Invention: Technology Creation
- SHA HF 307 Hospitality Entrepreneurship
Creating Impact: Domains of Interest (can pick 0, 1, 2, or up to 3)
- QST OB 456 Leadership & Management of Social Enterprises
- QST PL 425 Introduction to the Health Sector: Issues & Opportunities
- QST PL 430 The US Healthcare System in Transition
- QST SI 453 Strategies for Environmental Sustainability
- CAS EC 320 Economics of Less Developed Regions
- CAS EC 379 Firms, Markets & Economic Development
- CAS EC 387 Introduction to Health Economics
- CAS GE 304/IR 304 Sustainable Development
- CAS GE 425 Environmental Policy
- CAS GE 519 Energy, Society & the Environment
- CAS GE 524 Environmental Justice
- CAS GE 599/IR 599 Science, Politics & Climate Change
- CAS HI 226 Cities & Cultures
- CAS HI 227 Living in the Cities
- CAS IR 206 Introduction to the Sociology of Globalization
- CAS IR 242 Globalization & World Poverty
- CAS IR 304 Environmentally Sustainable Development
- CAS IR 594 Global Environmental Negotiation & Policy
- CAS SO 206 Sociology of Globalization
- CAS SO 215 Sociology of Healthcare
- CAS SO 244 Urban Sociology
- CFA FA 510 Arts Leaders Forum
- CFA FA 530 Collaborative Arts Incubator
- CFA FA 560 The Creative Economy and Social Impact
Innovator’s Toolkit (can pick 0, 1, 2, or up to 3)
- QST ES 275 Management Communications
- QST IS 474 Platform Strategy & Design
- QST LA 245 Introduction to Law
- QST LA 355 Employment Law
- QST LA 365 Securities Regulations
- QST LA 484 Online Privacy and Internet Law
- QST OB 460 The Leadership Challenge
- QST SI 333 Innovation & the Dynamics of Enterprise in America (IDEA)
- QST SI 451 Organizing for Design and Innovation
- CAS AN 103 Anthropology through Ethnography
- CAS AH 210 Learning to See
- CAS AN 220 Urban Anthropology
- CAS AN 309 Boston: An Ethnographic Approach
- CAS CS 103 Intro to Internet Tech
- CAS CS 491 Spark! Product Innovation Course
- CAS CS 591 Spark! Special Topics X-Lab Practicum
- CAS EC 323 Behavioral Economics
- CAS EC 333 Market Structure and Public Policy
- CAS EC 404 Economics of Information
- CAS SO 302 Social Networks
- CAS SO 304 Formal Organizations
- CAS SO 313 Economic Sociology
- CFA AR 210 Digital Tools
- COM CM 215 Principles &Practice of Public Relations
- COM CM 217 Introduction to Advertising
- ENG ME 517 Product Development
Communications (can pick 0 or 1)
- COM CM 211 Professional Presentations
- COM CO 101 The Human Storyteller
- COM CO 201 Intro to Communication Writing
- COM JO 205 Visual Storytelling
FAQ’s
Why should I pursue an Innovation & Entrepreneurship minor?
Students majoring in a discipline but interested in creating or launching an innovative idea or venture related to that discipline are well suited for this minor. Students will develop a holistic stakeholder view of how different parties both contribute to and alleviate social problems, learn how to conduct field research, develop novel insights and reframe innovation challenges to enable creative solutioning. Students learn to identify the key elements and conditions that can amplify or inhibit the individual and collective creative process. Through experiential learning, students will take creative risks and lead ideation processes, learn how to mobilize & influence others to take collective action and learn how to transition an idea into a communicable concept that can gain support from others to become viable and create either social or economic impact.
Who is eligible to participate in this minor?
The Innovation & Entrepreneurship minor is available to all undergraduate students at BU and supported by a University-wide initiative: Innovate@BU.
Is this a Questrom minor?
No this is a minor available to all undergraduate students at BU and supported by a university wide initiative: Innovate@BU.
What are the required courses for the minor?
The only required class is QST SI 250 (which will be cross-listed as SO 251 2020-2021).
This class is also approved for Hub units in Social Inquiry 1, The Individual in Community and Creativity/Innovation.
What else do I have to take to complete the minor?
1 Entrepreneurship course chosen from a list of several options and three electives (in either Entrepreneurship, Creating Impact, or Innovator’s Tool-Kit courses).
Do the three elective courses have to be from the same category? (Entrepreneurship, Creating Impact, or Innovator's Tool-Kit)
No, students must take one Entrepreneurship course.
The three additional electives can be chosen from any of the categories.
What are the available courses I can choose from to fulfill my electives for the minor?
Electives can be chosen from three different categories: Entrepreneurship, Creating Impact, and Innovator’s Tool-Kit. You can take 0, 1, 2 or 3 courses from each category (but one Entrepreneurship course is required). Entrepreneurship courses cover topics such as developing and scaling new ventures. Creating Impact courses cover topics such as social impact, sustainability, global development, and social justice. Innovator’s Tool-Kit courses cover topics such as field research, networks/organization, leadership, communication, digital tools, law, PR/advertising. There is a limit (0 or 1) to the number of COM classes that can be applied toward the Innovator’s Tool-Kit category.
Do I have to take the elective courses outside of my home school?
The electives chosen do not have to be outside of the student’s home school although it is our hope that the minor helps open up relevant classes in other schools to students across campus.
Can I count classes for the minor toward my major?
As is the case for all minors at BU, students can “double count” up to two classes or 8 credits for both the minor and their major. At schools and colleges that have a concentration (such as ENG or Questrom) there are no restrictions against double-counting classes for a concentration and a minor.
Are Questrom students required to take a Questrom Entrepreneurship elective?
No, Questrom students do not have to take their Entrepreneurship elective from Questrom but may do so if they choose. Entrepreneurship classes are also offered by ENG, SHA and CAS.
Will petitions for course substitutions be allowed? Ex: Could a course offered through BU Study Abroad count toward the minor?
Yes, we will review petitions for course substitutions on a case by case basis and consider relevant courses from Study Abroad that might fit the criteria for the required Entrepreneurship class and the electives. It is unlikely that a Study Abroad class could replace the required class: QST SI 250: Ideas2Impact. Petitions for course substitutions should be submitted through the petition process at your home school or college and reviewed by the faculty curriculum director of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship minor.
I completed or intend to complete the Innovate@BU Co-curricular and/or Summer Accelerator program. Will these experiences fulfill the QST SI 250 core class requirement?
QST SI 250 is the required core for the minor and there are no substitutes. There may be a small overlap with content presented in the BUild co-curricular or summer accelerator on design thinking but these skills will be applied differently for the minor. As there are many ways to incorporate design thinking into innovation, this overlap is by design rather than by accident.
How do I declare my interest in pursuing the I&E minor?
Interested students should declare their interest in pursuing the I&E minor on this form.
By completing this form, you are not officially declaring the I & E minor. Please follow the process of your home school or college to officially declare the minor.
There is an elective class I would like to take for the minor offered by another school but I cannot figure out how to register for it. What should I do?
If the course is in session, students should proceed to add the class using a drop/add form in advance of the add deadline.
Prior to the start of the semester: students should follow the guidelines of their respective school or college’s advising office with respect to registering for a course.
If the class is completely full, please seek out a different elective to take that semester.
The elective course I want to take lists a prerequisite course. Do I need to take those as well?
The classes listed for the minor have agreed to permit students declaring the I&E minor to take enroll without the listed prerequisites. However, please keep in mind that any prerequisites listed are designed to provide adequate preparation for the class. It is the responsibility of the student to identify electives that both meet the I&E minor requirements and fit with their abilities.
Where do I go if I still have questions?
Please check in with your home school advising office.
