Overview
Leadership Theory provides an in-depth exploration of the major theories, models, and perspectives that shape our understanding of leadership and followership. Students will examine historical and contemporary approaches, analyzing how leadership has evolved across time, disciplines, and cultures. Through critical reading and reflection, participants develop the ability to connect abstract theories with real-world dynamics.
The course emphasizes the importance of context in leadership — how environment, culture, structure, and circumstance influence the ways people lead and follow. Students consider leadership not as a fixed set of traits or behaviors, but as a relational process shaped by situational factors and organizational conditions. This approach invites learners to see leadership as fluid and adaptive, capable of responding to complexity and change.
A central component of the course is self-awareness. Learners engage in reflective writing and guided analysis to explore their own values, assumptions, and leadership tendencies. This self-inquiry builds a foundation for personal growth and helps students understand how their experiences and identities intersect with broader social and institutional systems.
Throughout the course, students strengthen their ability to communicate complex ideas through written analysis, digital presentations, and creative visual formats. By engaging technology thoughtfully and applying leadership frameworks to diverse contexts, students cultivate the critical thinking and communication competencies that prepare them to lead — and follow — with integrity, awareness, and purpose in professional and community settings.
3 credits.
Course learning objectives
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to:
- Critique the strengths and limitations of a variety of historical and contemporary leadership theories, models, paradigms, and approaches.
- Describe the complexities of leadership and the multi-disciplinary and integrative nature of leadership studies.
- Critically examine messages and images of leaders and leadership as well as institutions and structures that perpetuate them.
- Evaluate leaders, leadership behaviors, and leadership effectiveness in a variety of contexts.
- Evaluate one’s own potential for leadership and develop a comprehensive understanding of their personal leadership style, strengths, and blind spots in order to articulate their own personal philosophy of leadership.
- Explain the moral dimensions of leadership by exploring the areas of ethics, personal integrity, and decision making.
- Understand and critique how leadership is designed and perceived in American society.
Catalog description
Explores foundational theories of leadership and followership, connecting key ideas from research to real-world experiences. Emphasizes self-awareness, reflection, and effective communication as students develop their own understanding of what it means to lead and follow.
Typically Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer