Harris  Sondak
  • David Eccles Professor of Business and Ethics, School Of Business
  • Professor, Management Department

Current Courses

Fall 2024

  • MGT 6152-011
    Ethics & Bus Thought Fd
  • MGT 6152-021
    Ethics & Bus Thought Fd

Spring 2024

Teaching Philosophy

I believe that core task of teaching is to introduce ideas that are meaningful and useful to students and to help them make sense of these ideas.  Teaching is less about the transfer of knowledge than about helping students consider what they already know from their own experience in newly organized ways. 
 
I have long advocated for the integration of liberal arts in the business curriculum for three reasons:  First, because the world is uncertain and changing quickly, we do not know what our students will need to know over the course of their careers.  We should teach analytical skills from multiple perspectives so that students can tackle future problems from alternative points of view.  Our graduates must be nimble innovators and imaginative creators of value; we need to teach them how to learn throughout their lives.  Second, because our goal is to educate future leaders, business programs should help students think critically about their goals and how to achieve them.  Higher education in America, especially undergraduate education, has traditionally been directed toward developing citizens for a democracy.  The insights students gather at business school should serve them, their organizations, and their communities.  Third, even our best theories of economics, our insights about psychology, and our grasp of the sociology of business leave much unexplained and unexplored.  It is expedient for business schools to embrace the help offered by other realms of knowledge.  
 
I think that a key to teaching success is to be authentic and genuine with students – to be honest about what we know and do not know, to respect various opinions and points of view, and to be rigorous in judging the validity of an argument.  I strive to be known as a teacher who demands much from students but who delivers much as well; who is approachable and caring; and who creates a classroom atmosphere that is challenging but exciting.
 

Teaching Interest

Management