Academic Classes
Leadership Rice classes help students formulate and articulate informed perspectives on leadership that draw deeply from the humanities, conform to the methodological requirements of the social sciences, and are applicable to the challenges and opportunities leaders face today. While some Leadership Rice courses emphasize the intellectual foundations of leadership, others focus on cultivating the skills required of effective leaders.
Classes are offered in both the fall and spring semesters, are open to students of all years and majors, and may be taken independently of each other.
LEAD 101 Leadership: Theory & Practice
10:50-12:-05 TR, 3 credits
In LEAD 101, students explore and assess various leadership theories and approaches. The class addresses the nature of leadership in different contexts--by degree of authority, by group type, size, and purpose, and by profession. Armed with a theoretical framework, students are given opportunities to address current ethical, democratic, and international challenges of leadership. Assignments help students formulate a general theory of leadership and identify how and where they fit in that framework. Students learn to match leadership approaches to contexts and also gain clarity about the types of leadership they are best suited to practice.
LEAD 150--Leadership in a Professional Context
May 6th - 8th, 2008. Only for SME participants.
This course, to be taken in conjection with Leadership Rice's Summer Mentorship Experience, prepares students for their internships by familiarizing them with essential leadership concepts and keys to success in professional contexts. Required of an limited to students admitted to the SME program.
LEAD 313 Entrepreneurial Leadership
3:30-5:30 M, 2 credits
Entrepreneurial Leadership provides students with a survey of leadership issues and practices in an entrepreneurial business context, along with an understanding of fundamental business elements and economic concepts of importance to entrepreneurs and their organizations. Through discussions with established entrepreneurial leaders from the Houston community, ongoing readings, group discussions, and special presentations, students experience the challenging interplay between business demands and effective leadership. Assignments include a group project consisting of on-site meetings with a local entrepreneur and a thorough review of the business's structure and operations, with findings and conclusions presented to the class and the sponsoring entrepreneur.
LEAD 320 Rhetoric of Leadership
10:50-12:05 TR, 3 credits
This course explores the ethical implications of leadership and includes: a presentation of main approaches to ethics; class discussion of the ethical dimensions of the concept "leader"; and a series of case studies.
LEAD 321/COMM 321 Leadership Communication
11:00-12:30 MW, 3 credits
Powerful communication skills are essential for effective leadership, and LEAD 321 equips students to articulate ideas with poise, confidence, and clarity. Students develop written, oral, interpersonal, and team skills while developing an understanding of leadership communication in different contexts, including specific fields of study. The Leadership Communication class gives students the opportunity to practice the types of communication that will be required of them in the workplace and that will be crucial for their success.
LEAD 325 Applied Leadership
2:00-3:30 MW, 3 credits
Applied Leadership is a leadership skills development course focused on practical applications in negotiation, organizational communication, and consulting. The course explores power, influence, and persuasion in organizational contexts and allows students to practice advanced leadership skills, such as conflict management, change management, negotiation, delegation, and group facilitation, with an emphasis on supervising, persuading,and motivating others. Coursework assumes competence in fundamental communication skills, such as are developed in LEAD 321 - Leadershp Communication, BUSI 296 - Business Communication, or one of the HUMA or other COMM courses focused on writing and speaking. Students completing this course will be prepared to exercise strategic influence from any point in an organizational hierarchy, whether interacting with supervisors, peers, or subordinates.
LEAD 375--The Social Dynamics of Leadership
Not offered in Fall 2008
This course explores the rise, reign, and fall of elite groups in human societies (the powerful, the influential, the celebrated, the stars) with emphasis on the contemporary United States. The focus is comparative, using sociological analysis but also drawing from contributions in history, anthropology, and political and social theory. Specific contemporary elites, e.g., business leaders, political leaders, military commanders and media celebrities, will be studied with a view to answering questions about their social profiles, their responsibilities, their rewards, and their efficacy. Particular themes to be addressed include power, wealth, fame, and status and the paths to achievement in different sectors of society. The course also attends to leadership failures, moral dilemmas, and issues of accountability, with an overriding emphasis on the social dynamics influencing individual leaders--social networks, institutional settings, and organizational affiliations.
