Business at Sewanee encompasses a robust offering of academic business courses and a range of co-curricular programs

Why study Business at Sewanee?

The Wm. Polk Carey Pre-Business Program represents a best-in-class business program anchored in Sewanee’s liberal arts education. The business minor offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that serves as outstanding preparation for a career in business. In addition to taking required courses in economics, accounting, finance, and business ethics, students specialize in one of five business minor tracks:

  • Managerial
  • International
  • Finance
  • Accounting
  • Environment and Sustainability

As an incoming first year or as a sophomore, students may apply to the Carey Fellow Business Honors Program to acquire additional leadership and business skills.

The Babson Center for Global Commerce serves as the hub for business studies, and leads Sewanee’s business partnerships and co-curricular business offerings: executive speaker series, trainings, business clubs, and much more.

Wm. Polk Carey Pre-Business Program

Babson Center for Global Commerce

Business Minor
Co-Curricular Programs

The business minor complements a student’s education in the liberal arts. Students in any major may choose to minor in business. To meet the requirements of the business minor, students complete four core courses—in economics, finance, accounting, and ethics—and choose two electives from one of five tracks: managerial, finance, international, accounting, and environment and sustainability.

The Babson Center for Global Commerce is the hub for co-curricular business opportunities on campus, preparing students for a range of business careers. The Babson Center hosts executive speakers, provides skill training, offers scholarships for summer programs at top business schools, travel conference awards, and partial funding for leading professional exams in finance and real estate. 
Program Requirements
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Carey Fellows Honors Program
Visiting Speakers Series
Students seeking a more intensive pre-business experience may apply to become Carey Fellows, Sewanee's business honors program. Carey Fellows complete requirements beyond the normal coursework—such as a semester-long, paid internship, a pro-seminar, and exposure to cross-cultural businesses—that prepare them for leadership positions in business, consulting, and finance.
Our ongoing executive speaker programs give Sewanee students regular opportunities to hear directly from global business leaders whose experience, knowledge, and skills have carried them to the top of their fields, including:
More about the Carey Fellows
Learning from Leaders
FIRST DESTINATIONS
Learning Beyond the Classroom

Sewanee's business graduates secure positions in a variety of fields. Here is a sampling of recent graduates' first jobs.

  • Environmental, Health, Safety, and Sustainability Associate, GSK, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
  • Development Analyst, Surgical Care Affiliates, Birmingham, Alabama
  • Client Financial Management Analyst, Accenture, Arlington, Virginia
  • Analyst, Goldman Sachs, Atlanta, Georgia
  • Data Scientist, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Dallas, Texas
  • EVS, Valuation Associate, M&A, KPMG, New York, New York

As a key component of business offerings, the Babson Center serves as an advisor and mentor to student business organizations, including: 

Programs & Events
GRADUATE SCHOOL & PRE-PROFESSIONAL PROGRAMS
Business Studies Scholarships

Sewanee graduates enjoy extraordinary acceptance rates to top graduate and pre-professional programs

The unique programs introduce students to the concepts of management, team building, strategy, marketing, organizational development, and finance. Beecken Scholarships and Sewanee-Vanderbilt Accelerator Scholarships provide select students with substantial funding to attend summer programs at elite business schools like Dartmouth College (Tuck), the University of Chicago (Booth), the University of Texas at Austin (McCombs), and the London School of Economics

Preparation for Success
Our Students & Alumni
Dynamics of Asian Business
‌
Explore the world of business across the globe. This 2-part course examines business trends and business structures in Asian emerging markets in a classroom setting during the Spring semester and then a 3-week, faculty-led, study away program from May into June.
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India 2023

Singapore & Vietnam 2024

Global Business Studies

A Sampling of Courses

Business Ethics
Philosophy

An examination of the moral dimensions of business activity, especially within the context of a democratic society. Topics may include social and economic justice, the nature of corporations, corporate accountability, social responsibility, the morality of hiring and firing, employee rights and duties, advertising, product safety, obligations to the environment, and international business.

PHIL 232
Corporate Finance
FINANCE

This course addresses the concepts underlying corporate finance and equity markets. Topics include financial statement analysis, time value of money, security valuation, capital budgeting, capital structure, dividend policy, and working capital management.

FINC 201
International Political Economy
Politics

This course examines the dynamics of international political and economic relations. Issues of trade, monetary and financial networks, investment, North-South relations, and the international system will be explored. The international context of development will receive particular attention.

POLS 366
Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
Business

The instructional objective is to provide students with an understanding of the concepts that are fundamental to the use of accounting. Students will focus on the accounting cycle and the preparation of financial statements, including balance sheets, income statements, and statements of cash flows, as well as on the use of financial ratios. A decision-making approach is employed which involves critical evaluation and analysis of information presented. Analytical tools are integrated throughout the course. 

BUS 215
Dynamics of Asian Business
Business

This 2-part course examines business trends and business structures in Asian emerging markets. It discusses the evolution of conglomerate enterprises and business networks during recent decades that have seen rapid economic growth in Asia. The 2025 version of this course focuses on Singapore and Vietnam, their political economy, and the dynamics of their firm formation in the country.  It examines the policies and case examples of new start-up business development and entrepreneurship and sees how Singapore and Vietnam are adapting structures to shape an innovation economy and spur social entrepreneurship. Following work in the classroom, the second component of the course includes three weeks of travel to Asian cities to meet with business and non-profit leaders and develop a group research project that provides students with an understanding of business culture and business customs. International travel also incorporates cultural experiences.

BUSI 350 & BUSI 351
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Business

Programs of Study & Related Programs

Students select one of five minor tracks in Business:

  • Managerial
  • International
  • Finance
  • Environment and Sustainability
  • Accounting

Requirements for the Major and the Minor in Economics | Website

Requirements for the Major in Finance | Website

Meet Some Professors

Eric Zinn
ejzinn@sewanee.edu

Eric Zinn is a lecturer and the director of the business minor program. He teaches courses in financial accounting, managerial accounting, business law, and taxation. Mr. Zinn earned a juris doctorate degree from the University of Florida; received master's degrees in taxation, accounting, business administration, finance, and information systems from the University of Florida and the University of Colorado, Denver; and has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of the South. Mr. Zinn is also Of Counsel to the national law firm of Kutak Rock LLP and practices in the areas of federal taxation and corporate law.

Instructor of Business & Director of the Business Minor Program
Myles Elledge
mfelledg@sewanee.edu

Myles Elledge is the director of the Babson Center for Global Commerce and teaches leadership, strategy, and international business. He serves as a coach and mentor to students interested in charting their path to a range of business sectors or pursuing social impact careers. Prior to joining the Babson Center, Mr. Elledge served in executive roles with a technology start-up, as a global business director with a large non-profit applied research organization, and as a staff economist with a leading international consulting firm. He has served in international roles in Tokyo, Japan, and lead public and private sector consulting projects in 34 emerging market countries. 

   Mr. Elledge holds a master's degree in public and international affairs, with a certificate in international political economy from the University of Pittsburgh. He completed his bachelor's degree in global studies from the University of the South. 

Director, Babson Center for Global Commerce
Huarui Jing
hujing@sewanee.edu

Dr. Huarui Jing is an assistant professor of economics. She teaches courses in investment finance, real estate finance, and financial econometrics (derivatives & fixed income securities, financial modeling, and financial engineering).

Dr. Jing received her Ph.D. education in economics from the University of Connecticut and her M.S. in Policy Economics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She holds a B.A. in Public Economics and Administration and B.S. in Statistics from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Her current research is focused on machine learning-based macro finance projects: distributional robust optimization (DRO) in asset pricing models, robustness study on nonparametric recursive utility asset pricing model, and high dimensional asset pricing model DRO problems.

 

Assistant Professor of Economics
Aaron Elrod
aaelrod@sewanee.edu

Aaron Elrod's primary field of specialization is environmental and natural resource economics, with secondary fields in public economics and industrial organization. Prior to joining the Department of Economics, Elrod worked as an economist for the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. There he received a Bronze Medal Award from the U.S. Department of Commerce for superior federal service. He also conducted research as a Special Sworn Status researcher at the U.S. Census Bureau’s Center for Economic Studies. Elrod’s teaching interests include environmental and natural resource economics, energy economics, and public economics.

Assistant Professor of Economics
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Contact

Eric Zinn
Director, The Business Minor

ejzinn@sewanee.edu
Carnegie Hall 217, Ext. 1822

Myles elledge
Director, The Babson Center

Myles.Elledge@sewanee.edu
Babson Center for Global Commerce, Carnegie Hall 107, Ext. 1307

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