How can society treat sustainability as a strategic value driver that ensures the needs of the present without compromising the security and prosperity of future generations? What is the future of saving, investing, and planning for employers seeking to balance the upsides and downsides of a volatile, dynamic, and unpredictable economy? These are some of the questions industry leaders, faculty, and alumni from the Columbia University School of Professional Studies are driving and addressing.
Join Columbia SPS faculty and alumni leaders for the exciting Frame Your Future Event Series offered throughout March. This series of multi-disciplinary conversations features faculty, practitioners, and alumni in their respective disciplines and professional practices probing today’s pivotal questions shaping business and commerce, science and technology, governance, culture, and society. Hear from practitioners – including IBM’s former SVP Diane Gherson, NASA’s Deputy Chief Knowledge Officer Dr. Moses Adoko, and President Obama’s Senior Associate Director of Intergovernmental Affairs Elias Alcantara – who will offer a window into theory and practice in the key arenas of our programs. These conversations are invaluable for anyone seeking to advance their own careers or drive organizational change.
New technology, reconfigured supply chains, transportation networks, architectural and engineering solutions, and other trends are changing how we think about sustainability and climate change adaptation at strategic and local levels. On March 8th, the panel Building Blocks for Sustainability features faculty and alumni from the Construction Administration, Sustainability Management, and Sustainability Science master’s programs, including Steven A Cohen, Ph.D., Carolyn Caranante, David S. Goldberg, Ph.D., Shaun Hoyte ('16SPS, Sustainability Management) and Alison Snyder.
In the midst of global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and massive digital disruptions, what are the conditions, structures, and strategies that can be employed to foster successful decision-making? Don’t miss the panel, Game Time Decision-Making in Times of Disruption, on March 11th, featuring leading experts, faculty, and alumni from the Human Capital Management and Information and Knowledge Strategy master’s programs, including Moses Adoko, Ph.D., Diane Gherson, Ben Royce ('13SPS, Information and Knowledge Strategy), Steve Safier, Ph.D., Jordon Sims, and Beth Semaya, Ph.D.
Professionals involved in long-term financial planning must now take into account that in this time of growing unpredictability, we are coming to expect the unexpected. Responding to Shock on March 15th features faculty and alumni from the Actuarial Science and Enterprise Risk Management master’s programs, including John Angkaw ('19SPS, Enterprise Risk Management), Ben Hsu ('20SPS, Actuarial Science), Marshell Ma ('18SPS, Enterprise Risk Management), Tonya Manning, and Sim Segal.
As the year unfolded, “2020” became shorthand for loss, disruption, collective trauma, turbulence, and unpredictability as a global pandemic and a deeply contentious election dominated American life. On March 18th, Building Equity for a Post-Pandemic World features leading experts as well as faculty and alumni from the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Nonprofit Management, and Strategic Communication master’s programs, including Elias Alcantara, Erwin de Leon, Ph.D., Frank Oswald, Amy Sereday, and La Neice Collins.
On March 24th, faculty from the Bioethics, Narrative Medicine, and Applied Analytics master’s programs consider complex questions about how we as a society can make equitable decisions and better understand data—from randomized controlled trials to individual experiences—as a form of narrative, and narrative as a form of data, particularly in the case of COVID, a novel pandemic. RSVP to Racing with Vaccines: Data, Narratives, and Ethics with Robert Klitzman, M.D., David Kreutter, Ph.D., Danielle Spencer, Ph.D., and Sameer Ladha.
Lecturers for the Wealth Management and Insurance Management master’s programs will debate the merits of the digital revolution, particularly as it relates to the complex psychology of people and what influences their choices. RSVP to Digitization and the Relationship Imperative with Matthias Paul Kuhlmey, Meghaan R. Lurtz, Ph.D., Alejandro Zarate Santovena, and Philipp Hecker on March 25th.
Attendees are encouraged to share takeaways from the events throughout the month using the hashtag #FrameYourFuture.
The series culminates with a school-wide Open House designed for attendees and prospective students to learn more about course content and application procedures for M.S. and M.P.S. programs, as well as summer offerings, certificates, postbaccalaureate studies, and more academic options offered by the Columbia University School of Professional Studies.
Learn more about the series and RSVP here.