Entrepreneurship
“Entrepreneurs are innovative, opportunity-oriented,
resourceful, value-creating change agents.”
Dees, Gregory J., Jed Emerson, and Peter
Economy. Enterprising Nonprofits: A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs.
New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2001.
Spanish and Entrepreneurship introduces
students to both the theory and practice of entrepreneurship.
We define entrepreneurship broadly, as a process that includes
opportunity recognition, resource acquisition and value creation
within a number of contexts—commercial,
social, cultural and academic enterprises.
Our program is titled Spanish and Entrepreneurship because we
believe that entrepreneurship can inform Spanish programs and
that Spanish can make unique contributions to the study and practice
of entrepreneurship. Whereas some scholars concentrate solely
on the analysis of Latino entrepreneurs, we want to create
opportunities to bring together our students, Latino communities,
and entrepreneurial possibilities. We also encourage
others to think of entrepreneurship as scaleable. In other words,
an entrepreneur may start a new venture, but an entrepreneur
can also refine a mechanism that exists in a current venture.
A social entrepreneur may open a new service program, or they
may make some technological innovation that makes the work of
the program run more efficiently. At the heart of entrepreneurship
is problem solving.
Spanish and Entrepreneurship courses apply
to many facets of life. Our hope is that students will gain
an entrepreneurial spirit that will drive their thinking and
action in many facets of their lives—their education,
their careers, their creative endeavors, and their approach
toward social issues.
Spanish & Illinois' entrepreneurship opportunities.
• Spanish & Entrepreneurship: Languages, Cultures & Communities
(SPAN 332)
• Spanish & Illinois Internship
Program.
The Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership.
Our work with entrepreneurship has been generously funded by
the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership at the University
of Illinois. The Academy’s
mission is to infuse the spirit of entrepreneurship throughout
our campus. They view entrepreneurship through social, artistic,
intellectual and scientific lenses, as well as through the traditional
business lens; thus, entrepreneurship is a process that can lead
to creative solutions to social problems or the formation of
new and innovative enterprises.
Ann Abbott's presentation on "mission" at the 2008 Illinois Student Service and Leadership Conference.
Links. For more information on social entrpreneurship visit:
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