Interdisciplinary Business Studies, BSBA

Overview

In an era defined by artificial intelligence, demographic transformation, and intense global competition, the Interdisciplinary Business Studies major offers learners a way to design an education that matches the complexity of the world they will work in. The program is built for students who recognize that single-track expertise is no longer sufficient and who want to build a versatile, durable skill set that travels across industries, geographies, and technological shifts.

 

Future business leaders must combine breadth with depth. They need broad managerial judgment, the ability to lead diverse teams, and the fluency to make decisions under uncertainty, paired with specialized knowledge in at least two business disciplines. The Interdisciplinary Business Studies major is engineered around this combination. By drawing courses from across the Sawyer Business School, learners develop the conceptual range to see connections that single-discipline graduates often miss, and the analytical depth to act on what they see.

 

Each learner builds a customized program of study, selecting courses from several disciplines in consultation with the Sawyer Business School Dean's Office. This structure responds directly to the conditions reshaping global business today, including the rapid diffusion of generative AI, the redesign of work, the rise of new economic centers, and the growing premium on cross-functional thinking. The result is a major that does not ask learners to predict which single field will matter most in 2035, but instead equips them to remain valuable as the answer keeps changing.

Learners who wish to explore multidisciplinary studies in business take courses from more than one business discipline. Some combinations that learners may wish to consider are:

AI Governance, Risk, and Business Ethics: As firms deploy generative AI, autonomous agents, and predictive analytics across hiring, healthcare, and customer service, the demand for professionals who can audit, govern, and defend these systems is rising sharply. Learners examine the frameworks, and emerging state laws, and develop skills in algorithmic auditing, data privacy, model documentation, and stakeholder accountability.

AI Product Management and Marketing Analytics: This combination prepares learners to bring AI-enabled products to market, from large language model assistants to recommendation engines and computer vision tools. Learners study product roadmapping, A/B testing, conversion analytics, customer segmentation, and the pricing of usage-based and subscription AI services, while also examining how to position probabilistic products that do not behave like traditional software.

Healthcare Analytics and AI in Life Sciences: Trains learners for the fastest growing AI vertical, from clinical decision support and drug discovery pipelines to payer analytics and hospital operations.

Sustainable Business and Climate Tech: Pairs ESG strategy with the economics of climate tech ventures, including carbon accounting platforms, grid optimization software, and AI-enabled materials discovery.

 

The Interdisciplinary Business Studies program is built for learners who refuse to be defined by a single function. Whether the goal is taking over a family enterprise, scaling a venture, joining a high-growth firm, or stepping into a corporate role that did not exist five years ago, learners assemble a program of study that combines disciplines such as entrepreneurship, information systems, finance, marketing, business analytics, and management. The major rewards intellectual range. Learners who want to pair global business with a specialized functional area, or who want to braid together two technical disciplines such as analytics and finance, find a structure that supports that ambition rather than forcing them into a single track. Faculty from across the Sawyer Business School teach integrative special topics courses that surface the connections between fields, while internships, practicums, and applied projects translate classroom concepts into the conditions of actual organizations. The result is a graduate who can read a balance sheet, interrogate a dataset, lead a team, and recognize the systemic forces, including artificial intelligence, climate transition, and shifting global trade, that now shape every business decision.

Degree Requirements

Learners can earn a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with this major. See the requirements for the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree.

Required Courses (18 credits)

Interdisciplinary Business Studies Required Courses

Six courses, beyond the business core courses, are completed by learners in this major. Learners must complete advanced courses from at least two business disciplines offered in the Sawyer Business School. A customized Program of Study is developed in consultation with the Sawyer Business School Dean’s Office and Undergraduate Academic Advising Center. Courses may not be double counted towards the requirements for business minors. 

Learning Goals and Objectives

Learning goals and objectives reflect the educational outcomes achieved by learners through the completion of this program. These transferable skills prepare Suffolk learners for success in the workplace, in graduate school, and in their local and global communities.

Learning Goals	Learning Objectives
Learners will...	Upon completion of the program, each learner should be able to...
Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of business concepts across multiple disciplines	- Integrate concepts from at least two business disciplines to frame a single problem. - Apply interdisciplinary knowledge to experiential projects and case work. - Translate vocabulary across functional areas such as finance, marketing, analytics, information systems, and management.
Demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills	- Structure and solve complex, ambiguous business problems using interdisciplinary reasoning. - Evaluate evidence, surface assumptions, and weigh trade-offs when data is incomplete. - Use generative AI tools as analytical partners while maintaining independent judgment about their accuracy and ethical implications.
Demonstrate communication, collaboration, and storytelling skills	- Deliver presentations that are clear, focused, and tailored to audience and purpose. - Use effective supporting material, including data visualization and narrative structure. - Organize written work logically, support arguments with evidence, and apply correct citation conventions. - Collaborate across diverse backgrounds and disciplines, and apply current methods of conflict resolution.
Demonstrate a global mindset and systems thinking by integrating multiple disciplines	- Analyze how business processes operate across cultural, economic, and political contexts. - Articulate the core challenges of operating internationally, including regulatory variation and geopolitical risk. - Recognize the interdependencies among organizations, industries, and technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Demonstrate proficiency in ethical awareness	- Recognize that ethical norms vary across countries, cultures, and digital platforms. - Apply ethics frameworks to decisions involving data, automation, and algorithmic fairness. - Identify when a business decision raises ethical questions that go beyond legal compliance.
Demonstrate proficiency in a stakeholder view	- Identify the interests of stakeholders, including employees, customers, communities, regulators, and investors. - Evaluate how strategies that create social or environmental value can be consistent with long-term profitability. - Anticipate the second-order effects of decisions on stakeholders not present at the table.