
Celeste Diaz Ferraro
Teaching
My value system, grounded in the liberal arts tradition that shaped me, underpins the principles that structure my approach and implementation as an educator. Specifically, I focus my teaching on societal problems, and the potential for business and entrepreneurs to generate meaningful and responsible solutions to these challenges. My goals are to support students in finding their own voice in business and society while developing analytical and functional skills that enable the critical inquiry and life-long learning needed for problem-solving action in ever-evolving environments. To achieve these goals, I center engagement, inclusion and a global outlook in my pedagogy, course content and structure, co-curricular activities, and in the relationships I build with students. I am continually developing my pedagogical skills to provide meaningful learning opportunities that reach every student where they are, and give every student an opportunity to engage in ways that meet their learning needs.Courses I'm prepared to teach
Taught as sole instructorStrategic Management (undergraduate)Innovation & Creative Problem Solving (undergraduate)Financing the Entrepreneurial Venture (undergraduate)MBA core Marketing course (graduate)8 week multi-modal entrepreneurship boot camps (graduate/professional)Teaching assistant, prepared with content for deliveryBusiness, Ethics & Society (undergraduate honors)Complex Negotiations (graduate)Additional courses I can develop or enhance
- Responsible Business: Social Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Sustainability
- Corporate Entrepreneurship and Internal Innovation
- Modified entrepreneurship workshops & boot camps
- International Business Environment, particularly with focus on Latin America, Europe and North Africa
- Business and Public Policy Processes
- Undergraduate research: Developing & supervising community-engaged research to support experiential learning related to local/regional community development, public policy, entrepreneurship and related sociological and economic topics
Engaged, enthusiastic & effective educator
Student comments on my presence as an instructor
"Professor Celeste is very knowledgable on the subject, and is an extremely kind and caring person. I personally loved this class, the structure, the subject, and the instructor."
"Prof. Celeste is a genuinely good person who is passionate about business strategy and teaching. I felt like she actually cared about us all as people and this was more than just a job to her."
"Your enthusiasm and passion really helped me and engaged the whole class!"
I leverage my professional experience, network of corporate/venture contacts and pedagogical training in a varied portfolio of strategies to reach learners of all types
"After taking the first course, I was impressed by how you deliver what you’re thinking about this course and trying to fit the course direction with students who’re taking the course."
"Professor has good knowledge on subject, in class discussions and presentations helped. Assignments connected well to the content."
"Using real companies and guests talking about real-life situations to break down various models and topics really helped me visualize the concepts and how to apply them."
"Really enjoy when we have discussions as it is intellectually stimulating. Discussion based learning is much easier with this content."
"I have had a problem... having a clear mind. I don't always have thoughts right then and there in class, which would then cause me to stay quiet and not participate. I am embarrassed... it's just my reality... She understood that, and gave us a chance by simply having a class participation comment file on canvas we could comment in before the end of the day of our thoughts or ideas to that days class lecture."
"The professor’s quizzes was in short essay form which enables me to learn and understand the course materials better." "The quizzes also helped me get a big picture of what we were going to talk about that day."
"I also love the group discussions and activities throughout the semester. I felt more engaged and motivated to speak." "In this course I learned through the examples, group activities and break-out sessions."
"The Professor always provide useful feedback for lectures and assignments"
I have a growth mindset and continually invest in improving my effectiveness as an educator
- "No one is perfect and she is constantly asking what is the best way to do something for her class. This is really nice as it allows us to create better ways of doing assignments, learning material, and making connections with the strategic role. Overall, I believe Celeste did a great job as a professor for her first class at Penn State. Thanks for a wonderful semester!"