During spring break, many Darden students take advantage of opportunities to travel to learn about conducting business in other regions of the world. Currently, there are Global Business Experiences running in China, Brazil, and South Africa, each with a different specific theme. Three Global Field Elective Teams are also currently conducting their onsite visits, which allows them to meet directly with their clients, do research, and present preliminary deliverables.
One Global Field Team is in Chengdu, exploring the entrepreneurial landscape in Western China and the Tibetan region. This opportunity was made possible through collaborations between the University of Virginia Tibet Center, the Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and the Darden Center for Global Initiatives.
This spring, the team has been researching and pulling together the best teaching practices for entrepreneurship. They have also done research on the entrepreneurship culture in Western China and Tibet and conducted interviews with entrepreneurs from Tibet visiting Charlottesville for a six week program. During their onsite visit, the Darden students are gaining on-the-ground knowledge that will allow them to thoughtfully and strategically adapt and apply the best teaching practices to the local context. So far, they have already conducted interviews with local entrepreneurship students, visited museums, and presented to undergraduate students.
