May 29, 2006
New Book by UNC's Artistic Entrepreneurship Professor Highlights the Spirit of Entrepreneurs
Chapel Hill, N.C. — Dr. Elliot McGucken, who developed and taught an artistic entrepreneurship course at UNC this spring, is the author of a new book that discusses the spirit of entrepreneurs in the context of epic storytelling and the hero's odyssey.
"Whether you're an MBA, MFA, JD or DJ, the book is there to show you how the business of art and the art of business are united in the realm of higher ideals in epic storytelling," said McGucken, five-time author and adjunct professor of Physics and Programming. His new book is called The 45 Revolver — Epic Story & the Hero's Odyssey in Artistic Entrepreneurship & Technology 10: Ideals Are Real.
The book, to be released in July, was inspired by McGucken's pilot course at UNC, Artistic Entrepreneurship & Technology 101. It includes topics discussed in class, including McGucken's experience running profitable Internet companies and his vision that an entrepreneur's ideas found through technology, law, business or art can lead to their passion, profession or vocation.
"The book, which unites art and entrepreneurship in a maverick way by treating entrepreneurs as hero storytellers, was shaped around the Great Books and Classics including Exodus, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and Virgil's Aeneid," said McGucken. "The ubiquitous, classic 12-stage journey includes a mythological hero or heroine, the call to adventure (an entrepreneurial vision), and the return to home (the exit strategy)."
The classics influenced Hollywood films like Star Wars, the Matrix and Lord of the Rings. McGucken hopes his new book can inspire blockbuster ventures.
"Using the hero's odyssey is a most efficient way to combine art, law, business, technology and entrepreneurship in the classroom," McGucken said. "The book presents the journey of entrepreneurs in a classical context and their encounter with mentors, rescues, irony and survival in its epic form. The purpose is to inspire students to make the world a better place via artistic entrepreneurship."
McGucken's class at UNC attracts students who are interested in the arts, entrepreneurial ventures and cutting-edge technologies.
"Everyone needs mentors to help guide you down whatever path you choose," McGucken said. "For some people, a hero character from a book or movie can also be a mentor."
http://www.kenaninstitute.unc.edu/centers/cei/?y=news.20060529&t=News
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