Teaching Profile: Bahriye Goren

Engaging students with industry-relevant discussion and academic excellence

Clinical Associate Professor

Division of Programs in Business

NYU SPS Teaching Excellence Award Recipient, 2023  

Nexus:  What do you teach?

Bahriye: I have taught courses such as Deciding on Where to Play and How to Win in the Executive Master’s in Marketing and Strategic Communications program, and “Competitive Strategy” and C-Suite Perspective: Leadership in Integrated Marketing as part of the Leadership and Integrated Marketing graduate program at NYU SPS.

Nexus: What teaching practice, activity, or technology do your students benefit from the most?  

Bahriye: An engagement activity students consistently enjoy is our five-minute “News Spotlight” at the beginning of class. Each week, two students lead a brief presentation 

connecting current events in the marketing industry to the concepts we cover in class. This simple exercise sparks dynamic, real-time discussions and helps students develop the habit of linking theory to practice. 

Nexus: What best practices in teaching might you recommend to faculty?

Bahriye: I believe the most effective and transformational courses balance the following practices:

• Industry relevance: Connect course content with the real-world industry in meaningful and practical ways. For faculty looking to try a “News Spotlight” discussion opener, I recommend giving students broad guidelines and encouraging creativity and relevance in their selections.

  
  

• Upholding academic rigor and accountability: Part of our role as professors is to lay a foundation for learning and help students challenge and extend it. Consider how you can incorporate critical thinking opportunities into your curriculum and ensure expectations are clear at the start of your course. 

  
  

• Genuine care for students: It’s important that we as faculty ensure our students feel seen and supported as individuals. This can take many forms: learning names, checking in with those who may be struggling, or offering support with internship and job applications. 

  
  

• Structured engagement: Students tend to perform better with transparent and consistent structure for engagement such as weekly announcements (NYU login required) outlining upcoming assignments, clear learning objectives for each session, and a well-paced mix of lecture, discussion, and small-group work. 

  
  

• Strategic AI use: Generative AI can enhance student critical thinking, synthesis, and presentation skills. I encourage students to use AI tools for tasks such as idea generation, early-stage outlines, or checking grammar, but I also spend time highlighting the limitations. We explore how over-reliance on these tools can restrict deeper thinking or produce inaccurate information. The goal is to equip students with the judgment to use AI strategically and responsibly.

  
  

Nexus: Do you have any testimonials or feedback from your students about their experiences that you can share with us? 

Bahriye: Receiving student feedback always helps me shape my teaching. Here are two examples that mean a lot to me:

“She is the best professor I have had this semester. We could tell she genuinely cares about her students. The topics she covered in class were really interesting and engaging, and you could tell she updated her material regularly. She talked about what's going on in the industry and brought in guest speakers. She is the best!” 

“I wanted to sincerely thank you for such an impactful semester, [Professor Goren]. Your guidance and the knowledge you’ve shared have made a real difference in my academic journey. You've truly become a mentor to me.” 

Nexus: If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and why?

Bahriye: I’d choose to have dinner with Steve Jobs. He revolutionized how we interact with technology, making it personal, intuitive, and beautiful. But in the years since his passing, we’ve also witnessed the darker side of the tech ecosystem he helped build, especially the toll that social media and constant connectivity can take on young minds. I’d like to ask: Did he foresee any of this? And what advice would he offer to those now building the next generation of technology?

Bio:

Professor Bahriye Goren holds a masters degree in Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam.

Prior to joining academia, Professor Goren served as an international marketing executive and is the author of Be, a book on authentic leadership. 

In 2023, Professor Goren was honored with the NYU SPS Teaching Excellence Award.