Wharton is offering an online course on the global business impact of COVID-19

Philly businesses, public events and now schools have all been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Local colleges including Temple University, the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University have canceled all in-person instruction and moved to online classes for the remainder of the semester.

To help students make sense of the virus’ affect on the market, The Wharton School at Penn will offer a new course, conducted remotely, to discuss the implications of COVID-19 and how global business and financial uncertainty can be managed during dramatic events.

The six-week course, called “Epidemics, Natural Disasters, and Geopolitics: Managing Global Business and Financial Uncertainty,” will start March 25 following the end of Penn’s extended spring break. More than 450 people have already registered, according to the school.

“There are significant business lessons to be learned from the global response to the coronavirus outbreak, and Wharton is at the forefront of sharing valuable insights and creating a community to exchange ideas,” said outgoing Wharton Dean Geoff Garrett, in a statement. “This is a teachable moment for the global academic community, and this course is just one example of how Wharton is coming together to provide support during a time of heightened anxiety and ambiguity.”

International management professor Mauro Guillen developed the course. He believes Wharton is the first business school in the country to offer a course of this kind.

“We are proud to launch this course as it draws directly from the current geopolitical climate and will offer students insights into this crisis and all types of high-risk events,” Guillen said. “I’m thrilled to take part in this course which was developed very quickly and through the generous support of professors and staff who understand the urgency.”

More than 10 other Wharton faculty members, including Guillen, will be lecturers for the course.

Some of the lesson titles include “Financial Market Reactions to the Coronavirus and Disaster Risk,” “Emotional Contagion and Epidemics” and “U.S.-China Relations after the Trade Wars and the Coronavirus.”