AE&T Efficient Way of Teaching The Classics & Cutting Edge Technology, Law, and Entrepreneurship

In teaching Artistic Entrepreneurship & Technology 101, I've come to see the class as an efficient way to teach the classics and cutting-edge business, culture, and technology
simultaneously. As artistic endeavors naturally focus on creating value over just making money, it's a fun/natural way to approach teaching entrepreneurship--letting the higher ideals guide the bottom line. After all--successful companies/ventures are not successful because they make money--they're successful because they create value.

Furthermore, the class gets students to ponder, "From where does value derive? What makes an artistic venture successful?" And suddenly they're studying the classics which have endured thousands of years, as well as the contemporary box office, which offers a barometer of contemporary art, culture, and commerce. This all-encompassing and humble method of assessing intrinsic value will help them in any walk of life, whether they become a director or mutual fund manager. Ideals are real--in all enduring business ventures, art, and technology.

The students naturally know this, and the class helps them render their passions. "Nobody told us that we could build ventures out of our ideas--that ideals are useful tools," was how one student put it. They see one-another doing it, and suddenly their higher potential becomes real. And it's not so much studying anymore, but it's actually living the optimum technological, business, and legal tools that will empower them to transform artistic ideals into ventures and careers. I told them that the final exam will be given long after the class is over--I can give them a grade, but they will give themselves their dreams.

The class projects are great--from a classical music video, to a hip hop curriculum and textbook, to an online art gallery to the Triple Threat Fashion, Arts, and Music Management, to a bluegrass band, to a freshman's record label with over ten bands, to building a portfolio of choral compositions, to a social network being programmed by three CS majors--the students are all inspiring one-another, as well as their professor :).

The websites are getting underway; the stuents are blogging, designing html, registerng for trademarks, domains, LLCs, and banner ad networks, and diving into ecommerce and social networks for the first time. They'll take all these tools/blogs/trademarks/websites with them.

The law student helped a songwriter copyright her works, a film major is filming the law student giving piano lessons for a DVD, the bluegrass band is providing background music for a theatrical production, bands are booking gigs with one-another, the fashion designers are collaborating on a fashion show, and our computer science TA is helping get
everyone online. It would be so much fun if neighboring Duke & NCSU had such programs, as well as campuses all over--for as Metcalfe said, the value of the network grows exponentially.

Students are seeing that to the degree they succeed in creating useful art and ventures, they'll be able to further support their passions. This is exactly what the US Constitution encourages--giving artists & inventors the rights to their inventions encourages innovation. And so the class teaches them the reality and reason for intellectual property law.

Groups naturally form after each class, as studnets linger in the classroom discussing shows and gigs, and trading programming time for logo design. This might be the most important part of the class--the ability to assess one's own natural talents and learn to work with and collaborate with others that own complimentary or contrasting talents. With the daily revolutions in digital technologies revolutionizing the creative industries, artists and business leaders have to learn how to lead not by managing, but by collaborating and inspiring--by rolling up one's sleeves and diving in. In this "can do" environment, those that do--those who create and build--get the respect. And they inspire other students to do the same.

"The class is fun as it teaches reality," was how one student put it.