Semester:
Offered:
Gojko Barjamovic (Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations)
First-Year Seminar 60R 4 credits (spring term)
Business as a way of life has existed for thousands of years. In The Beginnings of Business we explore where many of the practices that we tend to take for granted today come from. What are the origins of money? What causes trade to occur and thrive? How has trust been built, and what are the ways in which people have sought to cheat (and avoid being cheated)? We’ll investigate these questions through the lens of multiple disciplines—archaeological and textual evidence from the ancient world, economics, history, and anthropology. By understanding what was needed to create businesses in the past, we’ll be able to understand modern limitations that exist in the world today.