About This Class

CROSSROADS: INTRO TO HONORS

Leadership for Social Change

HONORS 190-09 (3 credit hour)
Fall 2012
Thursday 6:00 – 8:30PM
Macalwane Hall, 334

INSTRUCTOR
Todd J. Foley, M.Ed.
Busch Student Center, Room 319
tfoley1@slu.edu, 977-2805

Please note: This syllabus is subject to change at the instructor’s discretion.  Topics covered on a given day may be altered from this schedule, and supplemental readings may be announced throughout the semester.  Students will be notified in advance of any changes.

OFFICE HOURS
By scheduled appointment.  You may contact me via email or call Ms. Cheryl Kaufman in the Student Involvement Center, at 314 977-2805 to set up a meeting time.

TEACHING ASSISTANT
Alex Schenk, aschenk6@slu.edu

COURSE DESCRIPTION
As an introduction to your work in the Honors Program, this course will challenge you to reflect, facilitate, and express yourself creatively through writing effectively, participating in rigorous dialogue, and working together on a common goal.  Through this course, you will read and interpret some of the greatest literary works in history as well as interact with one another in spirited discussions of social change.  As a class, we will explore various aspects of the concepts of leadership and how leaders helped to shape the social movements that have defined our society and how those social movements have contributed to changing the world.

A primary outcome of this class is to introduce you to not only thorough academic work, but also how you, as an educated college student, can work towards the betterment of humanity and the transformation of society, as defined by our Saint Louis University, Jesuit mission.

Learning Objectives:

• You will read for comprehension and reflect on scholarly materials alone and in a group setting.
• You will engage in meaningful and respectful discourse about a variety of timely and relevant topics.
• You will learn to write effectively and persuasively; this includes the ability to connect seemingly disparate concepts, articulating original ideas, formulating cogent arguments, and utilizing proper grammar/sentence structure.
• You will learn to speak effectively and persuasively through team presentations, class discussion, and stump speeches.
• You will reflect on and engage in the role of service, leadership, and followership through a team project.

Finding your passion:

A critical component of this course will be for you to discover something that you feel deeply passionately about.  This passion should hopefully be something that helps someone else, addresses a critical social issue in the world, or is otherwise something you feel strongly about.  Many of the assignments and projects hinge on you discovering this.  This is a HUGE area for reflection and can be daunting for first semester freshman.  I encourage you to talk to your friends, classmates and mentors about this.  You can also speak to me directly and we can brainstorm together.  You may also be interested in taking the Center for Service and Community Engagement’s Service Interest Form to help you discover this.