By Colleen McGuire

For the past twelve years Professor Bill Coyle has led a group of Babson MBA students on an offshore elective course to St. Petersburg, Russia, over spring break week. Before leaving for the ten-day trip to Russia, students attend three Saturday sessions led by Bill Coyle and St. Petersburg professor, Dmitry Evstafiev, in preparation for their business and cultural experience abroad. This year’s program included classroom sessions at St. Petersburg State University, as well as visits to corporate businesses, government offices, and cultural sites. A unique aspect identified by many of the 34 Babson students on this trip was having St. Petersburg University students accompany the group throughout their stay in Russia. One student commented as follows – “Without question the close interaction with the Russian students was the most useful element of the program. I learned more about Russia from them than I could ever learn in a classroom.” Upon their return, students are required to reflect on what they have learned both professionally and personally with regard to the business and cultural aspects of the trip.  

From Russia with Love
By Elias Soussou, MBA'05

This spring, while other students were sunbathing in the Caribbean, a group of 34 Babson MBA students packed their long underwear, gloves and hats and ventured to St. Petersburg, Russia as part of an international immersion elective titled "Russia in Transition," taught by Professors Bill Coyle from Babson and Dmitry Evstafiev from St. Petersburg University. The course is designed to give students a perspective on business in Russia as well as culture.

Professors Coyle and Evstafiev have used student feedback each year to improve the design of the course. As a result, the trip is one of the best that Babson has to offer. Perhaps the single key difference about the trip, however, is the exchange that exists between Babson and St. Petersburg University: during the course of the visit, the Babson students attended lectures at the university, visited a variety of companies in different sectors of the economy, delivered presentations based on the visits and were shown the nightlife and other cultural highlights of St. Petersburg on a daily basis - all in the company of the St. Petersburg students. The strong friendships that were created between Babson and St. Petersburg University students help to build on the successful relationship between the two schools and on success of the course itself.