FACULTY OF HUMANITIES

Humanities Leadership

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Leadership From the Inside Out

The McMaster Humanities Leadership curriculum is a unique opportunity for students to build leadership skills while making a positive impact in their communities. 

 

We offer unique and hands-on upper year courses to students from faculties across campus and diverse backgrounds. What unites our students is their shared interest in learning more about themselves and how they can lead change in the world around them.

 

Students have the option of enrolling in individual Humanities Leadership courses, or combining courses to work towards a Concurrent Certificate in Leadership, Equity, and Social Change (scroll below for more info about the certificate).

How Can Humanities Leadership Courses Help You?

Whether you are preparing for medical school, the workforce, teachers college, law school, graduate school, or still figuring it out, Humanities Leadership courses will equip you with key foundational and transferable skills like:

 

  • Critical thinking
  • Intercultural communication
  • Conflict transformation
  • Reflective writing
  • Project management

 

These foundational skills, when paired with the  knowledge and skills developed in your core academic program, will help you stand out as an agile leader–someone who can manage uncertainty and make decisions that consider the needs and potential of others.

The Humanities Leadership Approach

We believe that being a leader does not mean that you need to be the loudest or most popular. It doesn’t even require that you “change the world” or stun people with your innovativeness. Humanities Leadership teaches students how to find their own approach to leadership–and an essential part of this process is learning about who you are, what you value, and what your sphere of influence looks like.

 

In an increasingly volatile and complex world, bringing people together and truly hearing other perspectives is essential for leaders in all domains including business, medicine, policymaking, and community development. These are precisely the types of leaders we seek to nurture in the Humanities Leadership courses – courses that teach inclusive and reflexive leadership through an equity lens. This means we challenge our students to:

 

  • Think critically about their motivations, assumptions and how they are positioned in the world
  • Develop the competencies and humility needed to engage meaningfully and respectfully with people from diverse backgrounds and identities, and
  • Build a leadership style that is continuously reflexive and responsive to the changing dynamics of the world around us

Course Descriptions and Applications

Effective leaders possess strong ethical values, emotional intelligence, excellent communication skills, and creativity; they have empathy, and are able to influence and inspire through informed, reasoned arguments. Students will explore how these elements fit together in various leadership models and how they apply cross-culturally. They will also engage in reflective practice to increase self-awareness. Students apply these leadership skills through the peer-to peer mentoring of first year international students in the McMaster English Language Development (MELD) program. Student learning is documented through a structured portfolio.

Lecture and discussion (two hours), placement (one hour); one term

 

Prerequisite(s): Registration in Level II and HUMAN 3CM3, or registration in Level III or above of any program; completion of online application. NOTE: if you submit an application and it is approved then there is no need to gain permission of the Association Dean (Humanities) for enrolment.

Online Application

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Through on-campus experiential placements (embedded mentorship), students will participate in the peer mentoring of international students in the McMaster English Language Development (MELD) program. Students receive upfront training and ongoing support in mentorship, using aspects of the learning-centred mentoring paradigm (reciprocity, collaboration and the elaboration of mutually-defined goals). Students document their learning through a structured portfolio. Prior to beginning mentorship placements, students will participate in intensive training workshops (start of term) on: second language learning, reflective practice, goal-setting, and cross-cultural communication.

 

Discussion and placements (three hours), training sessions; one term

 

Prerequisite(s): Registration in Level II or above of any program; completion of online application. NOTE: if you submit an application and it is approved then there is no need to gain permission of the Association Dean (Humanities) for enrolment.

Online Application

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In this course, collaborative team work, conflict management, negotiation, giving and receiving of feedback, and the communication of vision and expectations are viewed through the lens of effective leadership practice. Students will gain a deeper awareness of their own and others’ motivations, strengths, responses to conflict, and of how to apply this knowledge to communicate effectively as ethical and engaged leaders.

 

Three hours; one term

 

Prerequisite(s): Registration in level III or above of any program

Antirequisite(s): HUMAN 4LM3

Enrol on MOSAIC

Course Calendar

Working with a faculty supervisor, students will combine theory and practice by conducting in-depth independently-led research on a chosen aspect of leadership followed by proposing and, in most cases, implementing a practical application of that knowledge.

Three hours; one term

 

Prerequisite(s): HUMAN 3LM3 and registration in level III or above; completion of online application. NOTE: if you submit an application and it is approved then there is no need to gain permission of the Association Dean (Humanities) for enrolment.

 

Once completed, please submit HUMAN 4LC3 Enrolment Application Form via email to leader@mcmaster.ca, no later than the first day of classes for the relevant term.

Enrolment Application Form

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Concurrent Certificate in Leadership, Equity, and Social Change

Undergraduate students have the opportunity to combine leadership and select interdisciplinary courses and work towards a Concurrent Certificate in Leadership, Equity, and Social Change. This Certificate provides students with interdisciplinary and experiential learning opportunities that enhance their leadership capabilities through foundational skills development, specialized training, and community service. This includes a rigorous academic framework that balances both theory and practice, and a curriculum that challenges students to think critically about their place in the world and how they can affect change around them.

 

Students also develop professional skills and an additional credential to add to their degree, both of which are highly desirable for the pursuit of graduate studies, professional programs, and gainful employment.

 

Any student in an undergraduate degree program at McMaster may declare the certificate, at the time of graduation, upon completion of a list of course options. For more information about the certificate, including the course requirements, please visit the Academic Calendar.

The leadership courses gave me the opportunity to realize my potential as a change agent, confront my fear of failure, explore team dynamics, and practice accountability to make a meaningful impact to society. I appreciate the structure and fluidity these courses offered and the assignments motivated me to introspect and reflect on how the courses added value to my personal journey, and for that I am forever grateful!

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Meet the Program Director

Program Director Alpha Abebe

Dr. Alpha Abebe

At the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster, we are proud to have Leadership as a cornerstone of our curriculum. We firmly believe that studying the Humanities helps students develop invaluable and transferable leadership skills that are essential in today’s workforce and increasingly complex social world.

 

Whether you are a student in one of our Humanities programs, or studying in another discipline such as the Sciences, Engineering or Business, there are a range of leadership courses and co-curricular activities we invite you to participate in. Come join our community of students, faculty and partners as we work to better understand ourselves, and how we can make our mark in the world around us.