Miriama Sokolakova from Slovakia, left, and Sandra Al Sam from Sweden are two of 20 students from 20 different countries chosen by the U.S. State Department to study entrepreneurship and economic development at UTC this summer. Photo by Angela Foster.
When professor Phil Roundy began teaching European students about entrepreneurship five years ago, most were unfamiliar with the concept of purpose-driven business.
“Now it’s the opposite,” said Roundy, a UC Foundation associate professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is one of a handful of professors from the Gary W. Rollins College of Business instructing students as part of the Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders program—better known as SUSI.
“Some SUSI students push back on the idea that we can use the market for anything other than buying goods and services,” said Roundy, who has taught SUSI students every summer since the program came to UTC in 2017 through a partnership of the College of Business and the Center for Global Education.
“When they think of the marketplace or capitalism, they think of Walmart and that’s kind of the stereotype in their mind. So I like the idea that I can expand their horizons beyond equating capitalism strictly with traditional businesses.”
Funded by the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by international development organization FHI 360, the five-week, academic intensive SUSI summer program immerses European students in entrepreneurship, economic development and culture at colleges and universities around the U.S.
For Sandra Al Sam, who recently graduated from Linköping University in Sweden with a degree in education, the theories and applications of entrepreneurship and economic development are becoming more clear. And more exciting.
“There’s something about human nature that makes us naturally want to improve our surroundings, and not just for ourselves but for our communities,” said Al Sam, who’s visited the U.S. once before. “There’s another level of civic engagement that you see in the U.S. that you don’t see in Sweden.”
She said in Sweden and in many European countries, the government aims to solve it all.
“But the state can’t help everyone,” Al Sam said, “and so that’s where I’m inspired to go back to my community and find out where people need help.
“This program is an inspirational springboard in a lot of ways.”
Earlier this month, Al Sam and 20 students representing 20 countries arrived in Chattanooga to launch their studies and broaden their knowledge of social entrepreneurship.
“I’m really interested in helping people so I don’t just like to see the bright side of places but the dark sides, too,” said Miriama Sokolakova, who studies economics at Charles University in the Czech Republic.
It’s why working with un-housed Chattanooga residents in the Chattanooga Community Kitchen this past week was so meaningful for Sokolakova.
One of the most significant differences she has noticed about American society and culture is “in general, the average American person is more entrepreneurial and more politically engaged,” Sokolakova said.
The post-communism transition in Slovakia has elevated democratic principles, but “one big downside of Slovakia is that the education system isn’t 21st Century yet,” Sokolakova said. “We have to teach people how to be good citizens and a sense of we’re in this together.”
The SUSI students depart UTC and Chattanooga Friday en route to Atlanta and then head back to their home countries Tuesday.
Philip T. Roundy, UC Foundation associate professor of entrepreneurship at UTC, teaches international students from the Study of the U.S. Institutes for Student Leaders program about entrepreneurship during their five-week stay at UTC.
