by Vincenza Previte
Walker School of Business

Graduate students from the Walker School of Business will be packing their bags for Austria to embark in what could soon be their most exciting class ever— Branding in Vienna, a global hybrid course to take place in August.

Set in one of Europe’s best business cities, the three credit course blends online and travel learning, and is designed to teach students how to develop cultural awareness and appreciation of the challenges in global marketing and branding.

But the students’ travels are far from a coed’s trip through… They will stay in Vienna for about a week traveling on August 6 and returning the 11th.  Once they return home, students will take the 6-week online portion of the class. Registration is still open for anyone interested in joining the class.

Anne Browning, director of programs, organized the hybrid course with faculty member Dr. Julia Skobeleva.

“Naturally, the most appropriate setting for a course on cultural branding is the authentic European city— Vienna,” said Skobeleva.

Branding in Vienna is a graduate level course; however, the business school also offers hybrid courses to undergraduate students. Michael Palkovics, a senior undergraduate student from the Vienna campus, majoring in computer science and psychology, traveled to Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Beijing this year in May for his Global Informational Technology Development China 2012 class.

“The experience was amazing. Not only could we experience life in China, but we could also see how this country combines tradition and the modern world,” Palkovics said. “It definitely was the best class I ever had at Webster. Listening to corporate representatives and getting first hand information is a very valuable experience.”

Palkovics said that if his budget and time allowed, he would take another hybrid course in the future.

“Since I am aiming at graduating in Spring 2013, I have to choose my remaining classes carefully,” Palkovics said. “Otherwise, taking part in another hybrid class would be a no-brainer.”

The Walker Business School has been offering hybrid courses for many years now, but it has only recently tried to standardize such courses so that more students can start taking them.

All graduate students have the option to take hybrid courses but business graduates taking the MA in International Business and the MBA with Global Track are now required to have an international experience course by either taking a class in one of Webster’s international campuses or one of our many hybrid courses.  To help students become global citizens the Walker School offers the Walker Travel Award to qualified  graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in global hybrid courses. The scholarship awards up to $1000 for airfare expenses.

Register for Branding in Vienna.