The One Day University Business School, here in Minneapolis on Friday, gives people a taste of what MBA courses are like.

Four top business professors from around the country will be lecturing on their respective specialties at the event, which is co-sponsored by the Star Tribune.

The session, being held at the Minneapolis Marriott City Center, is the first time One Day University is hosting a business-focused event in the Twin Cities.

"What's fun is that the thing that I'm talking about in Minneapolis on Friday is one of the most complicated and debated economic relationships in the world," said Meg Rithmire of Harvard Business School, in an interview Wednesday.

Yet even in the short time she has with participants, Rithmire believes they will come out with understanding of the issue, she said.

Rithmire will be joined Friday by Arnold Barnett, a statistics professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management; William Duggan of Columbia Business School; and Aks Zaheer of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management.

Rithmire has prepared a discussion on the future of global capitalism centered around the connection between the United States and China.

"This relationship between China and the United States is the most important economic relationship between any two countries in the world," Rithmire said. "And so understanding the past, the present and the future of that relationship seems like something that is important."

Barnett hopes that attendees will leave his lecture on risk with more confidence.

"I hope that because they will understand the probabilities and the math that they will not leave as intimidated as they may have been when they came in," he said.

One Day University was started by Steven Schragis in 2006, after engaging with professors when he dropped off his daughter at college. He figured others would be just as intrigued.

One Day University partners with about 50 newspapers in more than 30 markets across the country to host 80 to 100 live events a year.

The events focus on a variety of topics from presidential politics to film studies and health topics.

Space is still available for Friday's event. Registration is $149 with the code "BIZ 149" at www.onedayu.com or 1-800-300-3438.

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495

Twitter: @nicolenorfleet