As a philosophy, Objectivism upholds productive work as the central activity of a good life. To take your life seriously requires taking work seriously. This course will explore principles and attitudes that will help guide you in your work, your career, and the world of business more generally.

Through a series of assignments, students will be asked to reflect on where they are in terms of their career. For example: Have you found work that you love to do? What opportunities do you see and what questions and challenges are confronting you? What attitudes and principles are currently operative in your mind as you approach the world of business and work? Have you picked up any bad ideas or attitudes that are preventing you from finding work you love and building a career? What questions would you want to ask more experienced individuals, and why?

Through a series of workshops, students will discuss both their own issues, questions and challenges and those of their fellow students. Instructors will share their own experiences and perspectives on the items being raised by students, and also present a range of topics that they think it is necessary to consider in order to find work you enjoy and to create a career you experience as worthwhile.

And through a series of interviews and discussions conducted by the instructors with outside professionals from a range of fields, you will hear these individuals reflect on their own experiences and careers. This will help you see both the vast variety of work that needs to be done — the range of value creation that advances life — and some of the principles and attitudes that are common to successful individuals regardless of their chosen field.

The end result of the course will be that you have learned some concrete skills to help you embark on a successful career and have developed an increased commitment to the importance and joy of productive work.