Course Details

ED 734 Overview

Transformational leaders possess a developed philosophy of service, the ability to critically and comprehensively examine important issues, and the motivation to effectively catalyze long-term, systemic transformation. The curriculum for the Service Year aims to provide a base from which students can develop the components necessary for transformational leadership. Four major components provide the overall structure for the Service Year curriculum. Parameters of Service defines service through multiple lenses – academic, sociocultural, and individual psychology and behavior. Application of Service focuses on the fundamental activities of applied, pragmatic service, particularly focusing on the emerging role of technology. Nurturing Service builds on application, examining how applied service can be infused to effect transformational change in individuals, organizations and society. Lastly, Service for Transformation integrates service with leadership, learning, and scholarship to provide a base from which to mindfully assess the present and effectively plan the future – personally, organizationally, and globally. The second semester of the Service Year requires students to continue their investigation of a specific issue, as well as apply their developing critical analysis skills. Building on the analysis of parameters, students will focus on synthesis and application, creating a personal theory of social justice as well as action plans for personal and organizational transformation. Students will be asked to construct an innovative process to communicate their issue in a manner that effectively enables other students in the class to assume a particular perspective relative, and relevant, to the issue. Simultaneously, students in the class will apply their service-analysis paradigm to critique and discuss presented issues. The second semester culminates in activities designed to help students integrate service with leadership, learning, and scholarship, as well as plan future application of these skills. This is summarized in a final integrative product – the Plan for Transformation, which includes a personal mission statement. Prerequisite: ED 730 or department approval.