Experiential learning is a hallmark of our university, and Academic Travel is its epiphany. It embodies togetherness, ingenuity in exploring new things, curiosity. They are important ingredients of becoming a critical thinker. Liberal Arts are undergoing a tectonic change, influenced by the new way to communicate technologically. They are partners of the E-world of which they are also guardians.
These are the cultural basis of the opening of Franklin to the Elite of the corporate World. Several CEOs, coming from different fields, came to campus to address our students. We have described some encounters in past articles: among the latest ones was the HR manager of EFG Bank. Luca Bruschi explained to our students what it takes to be a successful banker, traits that go well beyond number crunching: after all investing has an emotional component, that should be met with the same attention given to the naked figures.
The topic of Digital Transformation in the financial world was explained by the leadership of Avaloq, one of the largest financial software platforms in the world. The Humanities were also a plug-in during the day, because the proclivity towards E-banking and fin-tech is highly dependent on the cultural background of the user.
What were the lessons learned? Those technological companies were an apparent departure from the traditional liberal arts values of our university but, in reality, confirm the need for their existence if you want to be a front line actor in any field. In the next Academic year, the program will be brought to the next level, that is of designing projects with the companies we made friends with. They will range from capstone programs to internships to research. Franklin will thus transform the humanities in an ever-evolving discipline that has nothing to envy to science and technology.