LDR 101: Leadership Prologue

LDR-101 (Williams): For Her People: Margaret Walker, Literary Leadership, and the Struggle for Black Liberation (4.00)

Best known for her signature poem “For My People” and for her folk novel Jubilee, Margaret Walker exemplified a model of leadership grounded in intellectual rigor, cultural affirmation, and long-term institutional impact. From her role in the Chicago Black Renaissance to her foundational work in establishing the Institute for the Study of the History, Life, and Culture of Black People at Jackson State University (now the Margaret Walker Center), Walker’s career challenges us to expand our definitions of leadership to include literary activism, educational innovation, and generational mentorship. Through close readings of her poetry, fiction, essays, and archival materials, we will explore the ways in which Walker led through language, vision, and community engagement—offering a compelling model for ethical and inclusive leadership in the arts and education. What can Walker’s life and work teach us about the role of artists and educators in leading movements?

Taught by Seretha Williams.

LDR-101 (Drescher): Leadership and German Science Fiction: Anticipating the Future (4.00)

What leadership qualities will we need in the future? What will guide our decisions about how we live our lives in conditions that we can’t yet foresee? In this course, we will familiarize ourselves with the “remarkable set of tools” (Holland James) that science fiction provides for its readers: to imagine, learn, and strategize about alternative realities. Science fiction prompts us to think through complex systems, test assumptions, connect disciplines, understand the fragility of our world or ecosystem, and, finally, to compare and choose between competing approaches. Science fiction, like leadership, requires us to develop a bird’s-eye view of our world and adapt to rapid change. Reading and viewing selected German science fiction novels and films (in English translation) we will develop intercultural competence and pay particular attention to another culture’s assessment of future problems, its approaches to solutions, and to how its characters embody competing discourses and rationalizations.

Taught by Barbara Drescher.

LDR-101 (Gillespie): Democracy and Its Critics in Ancient Greece (4.00)

This seminar will explore leadership through the lens of the people’s use of power in the radical democracy of classical Athens. We will examine the birth of this political institution in the sixth century BCE, its organization, and the early and frequent criticisms made of this bold political experiment. In readings ranging from ancient Greek tragedy to comedy, history, and philosophy, we will interrogate whether democracy is simply ‘mob rule’ by another name, rule by the mediocre, and unstable by nature. Further, for six sessions each student will embody an Athenian democrat in a historical role-playing game in which you and your classmates will debate key issues every democracy must grapple with, such as: Who gets the vote? Who gets social welfare? Do we adopt a policy of free or limited speech? Do we need an aggressive military? Overall, this seminar will have a two-fold purpose: 1) to acquire a working knowledge of the rule of the people in antiquity and 2) to acquire leadership skills crucial in our own modernity through teamwork and individual exercises.

Taught by Maribelisa Gillespie.

LDR-101 (Iqbal): Ethical Leadership (4.00)

This course explores leadership models that prioritize ethics, social responsibility, and community impact over profit-driven approaches. Students will engage with diverse leadership frameworks, learning how to balance ethical decision-making with effective leadership. The course includes a practical leadership workshop where students will reflect on their own leadership styles, develop self-awareness, and practice self-care strategies essential for sustainable leadership.

Taught by Roshan Iqbal.

LDR-101 (Meyer-Lee): Leadership and Gender in the Young Adult Fantasy Novel and Film (4.00)

In this seminar, we will critically evaluate the representation of leadership and gender in several young adult fantasy novels and the films based on them. After reading some feminist, gender, and leadership theory, we will examine closely the ways in which these novels and films construct positive and negative models of leadership and of gender, and the ways in which they relate these models to each other. We will assess how much these models do and do not conform to existing norms and how successful they may be at challenging those norms. Examples of possible novels and films include The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone; The Golden Compass; Binti; and The Hunger Games. Students will write reflection papers and analyses of films and novels, and, in teams as the final project, design their own young adult fantasy story, and write, film, and screen a segment of that story.

Taught by Bobby Meyer-Lee.

LDR-101 (Solomon): Close Listening and Popular Music (4.00)

Effective communication is a key component of successful leadership. Skillful communication involves more than writing or speaking clearly and convincingly—it requires listening. This course uses popular music to hone critical listening skills, as students apply research, close listening, and aural analysis to identify the various elements of a song (melody, lyrics, harmony, instrumentation, form) and describe how those elements interact and blend to form meaning.

Taught by Jason Solomon.

LDR-101 (Stamant J): Media, Communication, and the Shape of Our World (4.00)

After Johannes Gutenberg “invented” modern printing with movable type in the fifteenth century, it became much easier to disseminate information to large groups of people. Yet, the question remains: how is communication affected by the medium that exists between the speaker and the audience? Was Marshall McLuhan right when he wrote that “the medium is the message”? In this class we will consider how media has attempted to facilitate communication, transmit information, and tell stories, from Gutenberg to the present. We will examine old media and new media alike, including contemporary modes such as digital media, social media, and celebrity media. How does an understanding of, and ability to manipulate, media help leaders to lead? What is the relationship between media and leadership? We will interrogate these questions and this topic from different angles and by looking at various kinds of texts to create a discussion about the importance of media in the past, our present moment, and the future.

Taught by James Stamant.

LDR-101 (Zablocki): Religious Leadership: Confucius and the Buddha (4.00)

This section of LDR 101 explores the nature of leadership within different religions. Our two primary case studies will be the founders of two of the world’s great religions: Confucius (Confucianism) and the Buddha (Buddhism). We will explore the ways in which Confucius advocated personal self-cultivation in relation to upholding social norms as the model of ideal leadership, in ways that profoundly impacted the development of Chinese civilization and which are still relevant to people around the world today. In contrast, we will explore how the Buddha abandoned social norms in order to practice a form of self-cultivation through inward meditative exploration, ultimately leading to the perfection of compassion and understanding; the Buddha’s model of leadership transformed Asian societies and today influences spiritual practices around the globe. By examining these case studies, as well as those who followed in their footsteps over more than two thousand years, the course will consider the role that individuals with strong leadership skills can play in bringing about effective change. The course will also consider the ways in which religious leadership can be used to motivate people to commit human rights violations or otherwise act in ways that appear counter to the basic principles of that leader's religion. Throughout, the course will seek to compare religions cross-culturally, in order to reach a deeper understanding of how, at their best, religious leaders may motivate their followers to make the world a better place, and how, at its worst, religious leadership may be used to justify acts of great evil.

Taught by Abraham Zablocki.

LDR-101 (Oyelere): Social Business (4.00)

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus defined social business as a business created and designed to address a social problem. In this leadership class, we will leverage economic principles and business concepts as we explore leadership through the lens of an emerging type of business that combines solving social problems with maintaining a sustainable model not dependent on donations for continuity. Students will learn about the history of social business, and its growth and expansion in different parts of the world will be explored. They will also learn about different types of social businesses globally, leadership in this sector, and the main principles emphasized by social business.

This course will be particularly valuable for those interested in social entrepreneurship or considering the launch of a nonprofit organization aimed at addressing social issues. It will offer foundational knowledge and introduce an alternative, sustainable business model as a potential path forward.

Taught by Ruth Uwaifo Oyelere.

LDR-101 (Wolfe): Narrative Medicine (4.00)

This course introduces students to interdisciplinary perspectives on health, wellbeing, and health care through Narrative Medicine methods. We will explore how patients and health care providers who occupy different social locations narrate their experiences and how Narrative Medicine methodologies can address differences in experiences across the life course. Students will explore patient- and provider-viewpoints in biomedical, medical humanities, and social and behavioral science fields. Students will participate in in-depth, analytic discussions of readings, and create narrative expressions of embodiment and health, including multi-media zines and Op Eds. This course will prepare students to critically examine different social, political, and philosophical perspectives in health and health care.

Taught by Atticus Wolfe.