Portico
Portico
Our distinctive Portico course for first-year students examines business from global, multidisciplinary, ethical, and social perspectives while introducing students to the Carroll School’s rich resources and the breadth of contemporary business.
Portico is a three-credit entry point for all first-year Carroll School students
The course includes:
- A shared summer reading that fosters a sense of community
- Personalized advising
- Case studies
- Group projects
- Talks by influential guest speakers
- Self-reflections that encourage students to consider how to shape lives of meaning
- Written work assessing the ability to make connections between business and philosophy
- Small group discussion on current moral dilemmas facing business
With a strong focus on philosophical reflection, students develop a greater sense of self-awareness and a clearer understanding of their place in the world.
Portico features an interdisciplinary team of six faculty and over 50 teaching assistants. Students meet twice a week in small classes with a professor—who also serves as their first-year advisor—and once a week for a plenary session with influential speakers.
With the help of professors and TAs, students create a practical plan for the rest of their time at Boston College, discerning their interests and outlining which courses they’ll complete to graduate on time.
Be attentive. Be reflective. Be loving.
Those words of advice are not what you’d expect to hear in a typical management class, but they sum up the aims of the Carroll School’s signature Portico course.