Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor

Pre-Approved Optional Electives (Up to 2 Courses)

Petitioned Electives (Up to 2 Courses)

The Entrepreneurship and Innovation minor encourages an interdisciplinary approach and welcomes elective courses from across the Collegiate Divisions, provided they develop relevant skills, mindsets, or methods that support entrepreneurship and innovation. Petitions are considered on a case-by-case basis.
Petition RequirementsSubmit a Petition

Reflection Paper Requirements 

The final reflection paper (1,250-1,500 words) provides students with an opportunity to synthesize their academic journey across the Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation and chosen major. Students are encouraged to reflect deeply on how the experiences, frameworks, and challenges they encountered in their entrepreneurship coursework have shaped, challenged, or expanded the way they think about their primary field of study.

Going beyond generalities, the reflection paper should be grounded in specific courses, moments, assignments, or conversations that were personally meaningful. The reflection should reveal how entrepreneurial thinking has influenced one’s academic identity and professional aspirations.

More specifically, reflection papers should include:

• At least three specific concepts, frameworks, or projects from entrepreneurship coursework (e.g., Entrepreneurial Discovery, Building the New Venture, or an elective) that offered a new lens for thinking about one’s major or professional aspirations. If applicable, this should include discussion of how the frameworks learned in class impacted the startup one is building.
• A candid reflection on how one’s confidence, creativity, or decision-making evolved through the minor—and how this may impact future paths within one’s major field.
• One of the following:
  • A moment of realization that there was an opportunity to apply an entrepreneurial framework or approach to a problem area within one’s major. For example, an anthropology major might discover how entrepreneurial solutions can address the challenges of preserving Indigenous cultural heritage, or a neuroscience major might better understand how the commercialization process can solve for earlier detection of neurodegenerative disorders.
  • An example of how the background provided by one’s major shaped contributions to a team-based entrepreneurship assignment, venture idea, or simulation.

The reflection paper must be submitted by the end of Week 3 (Friday at 5 pm) of one’s final quarter at UChicago. These papers will be reviewed and approved by the Senior Instructional Professor of the Minor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
Submit Reflection Paper