51³Ô¹Ï

Shared Core Courses

COML 597 | ORGL 610: Communication & Leadership Ethics - 3 credits

This course is an exploration into the personal, organizational, and social values present in ethical dilemmas. You will develop skills in ethical communication, decision-making and be able to consider multiple ethical perspectives. You will also learn strategies to respond to ethical problems while balancing your personal beliefs with organizational values.

COML 599: Content Creation and Strategy | ORGL 605: Imagine, Create Lead - 3 credits
These are the same course with different titles.
Includes either a 3-day on campus immersion or 3-day fully online synchronous immersion.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

This course is grounded in the principle that the best learning is experiential, and occurs in the context of a community. During this 3-day immersion, you will meet with faculty to discuss career goals, check-in with Student Services and engage with your peers. This is your chance to establish friendships and build relationships that will support you throughout your master’s journey and beyond graduation. The course is designed to spark your creativity and explore innovative ways to solve problems, build a team, and communicate effectively. You will later use your newfound knowledge to create a final class project. Some of the subjects you may explore include, art, architecture, digital media content, Ignatian imagination, literature, poetry, music, and even improv.

COML 602 | ORGL 620: Capstone Seminar - 3 credits
Full semester - 16 week or Summer 12 week option

This course is the culmination of your learning experience and is designed for you to reflect on your academic work.  The capstone includes the development of an applied project or research paper. Students earning a concentration will choose a capstone topic relevant to that concentration.

COML Core Courses

COML 595: Communication and Leadership - 3 credits

This course prepares 51³Ô¹Ïs with an understanding of communication theories and their practical application to leadership contexts. Students will learn to analyze and apply relevant theories to enhance their leadership and communication effectiveness in achieving personal, relational, group, and organizational goals. 

COML 598: International and Intercultural Communication - 3 credits

You will identify and analyze how communication is affected by culture, identity, gender, race and class. You will explore the effects of those differences in attitudes, social organization, role expectations, language and nonverbal behavior. Principles of communication theory as they apply to the intercultural context are also emphasized.

ORGL Core Courses

ORGL 600: Foundations of Leadership - 3 credits

This course is the foundation of the organizational leadership program. You will investigate various theories of leadership and communication used by leaders in organizations, both positive and negative. You will explore your own ideas of leadership and how they relate to real world scenarios, through research, readings, discussion with your peers and personal reflection. During this process you will discover new ideas about what leadership is and will develop a leadership growth plan and craft your own leadership philosophy.

ORGL 615: Organizational Behavior and Theory - 3 credits

The purpose of this core course is to provide exposure to theories of organizations, organizational behavior, and systems as well as a variety of strategies and tactics useful to successful leaders and followers. The content includes a traditional macro organizational theory emphasis on structure and culture and then extends to organizational behavior focusing on leading teams and interpersonal relationships.

COML 504: Organizational Communication and Leadership - 3 credits

All organizations — from Microsoft, to churches, social clubs, and universities — rely on communication. Being able to communicate strategically is crucial to meaningful participation. This course will explore contemporary concepts about the meanings and functions of communication in organizations. Organizational communication encompasses not only communication within businesses, but also within large private or nonprofit associations, larger community groups, and governments both large and small. We will cover selected topics in organizational communication research such as culture, socialization, systems theory, communication and technology and globalization.

COML 505: Digital Storytelling - 3 credits

The digital age has changed the way we tell stories. Current technology allows users access to a range of digital tools to not only create their own stories, but share them widely through social media. But how do stories make an impact on audiences, given that there is so much more information available? This course teaches you different forms of storytelling using digital media tools. Readings will help you better understand different narrative and persuasive styles of storytelling as well as understand the major theoretical and policy-related issues. Through hands-on assignments, you will acquire technical skills that will help you become a more effective communicator in the digital age.

COML 507: Mindful Leadership and Communication - 3 credits
Includes 3-days on campus
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience

This course is a multi-sensory, hands-on introduction to mindfulness undergirded by empirical research in neuroscience and outcome research.  The course includes; readings, audio files, and mindfulness practices, discussion board postings, and a final paper.  Content and learning activities are selected in the service of educating the whole person and nurturing the personal and professional qualities aligned with the mission of Gonzaga University.

COML 509: Social Media Engagement and Analysis - 3 credits

In this course, we look at the development and dynamics of social media platforms. Through course readings and assignments, we will not only better understand how these platforms can be used to communicate, but also how they can increase audience interactivity. Key to this course is an understanding of how social media has changed the way that audiences engage with organizations and networks. Google defines this new group of users as “Generation C,” a global group of consumers who thrive on content creation, curation, connection, and community. Generation C values authenticity and transparency, and they want both personalization and community.  You also have the option of earning your Hootsuite Certification during this course.

COML 510: Communication Teaching and Pedagogy - 3 credits

This course is designed for those considering teaching communication at the college level. You will learn teaching strategies, develop your teaching philosophy and observe college classroom environments. You will also increase your skills in assessing verbal and nonverbal behaviors to create an engaging classroom experience.

COML 511: Communication Consulting & Training - 3 credits

In a global economy, it is increasingly important to have the training and consulting skills that will allow you to interact effectively with many different cultures. Understanding and creating effective training programs is vital to you and your organization’s success. This course will explore the unique application of communication skills and models for training and offer practice in consulting in a variety of settings, developing resources, marketing, workshop development, training, skill building, and evaluation.

COML 512: Strategic & Crisis Communication - 3 credits

Gone are the days when organizations can afford to just "wait it out" during a crisis or while their competition moves ahead.  Whether you lead or work for an organization, or are in charge of strategic planning or communication, it is critical to understand how to develop, implement and evaluate effective integrated communication plans.  New ideas, trends, issues, projects, and services in our workplaces are all opportunities to plan, strategize, and communicate with stakeholders.  You will learn from real-life examples as well as your colleagues to fully understand and implement campaigns, media relations strategies, and social media tactics.

COML 513: Advanced Topics - 3 credits 

This course explores cutting-edge technologies, theory, and issues. The specific theme of this course varies each time it is offered because communication is constantly evolving.  This course can be taken multiple times because topic rotate.

COML 514: Strategic and Applied Public Relations - 3 credits

This course will explore current public relations practices and give you a solid grounding in the most important thing for a successful public relations practitioner – judgment. All major companies, well-known personalities, non-profits and many others rely on public relations to influence how they are regarded by the audiences that matter to them. As Warren Buffet said “A good reputation takes years to build and a moment to ruin.” The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines it as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” We will cover selected topics to help you understand the science and the art of this discipline including audience research, strategic planning, how to become a valued counselor, and sell your ideas and plans.

COML 515: Relational Communication- 3 credits

This course will enhance your ability to assess the dynamics occurring during conversations, whether one-on-one or in a group, and in different contexts including organizations, families, and in personal relationships.  You will study relevant theory, equipping you with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully navigate the challenges and opportunities related to human communication.  Students will also explore group dynamics and the specific communication actions that can lead to positive social change.

COML 516: Disinformation in the Digital Age - 3 credits

This course offers tools and theoretical frameworks for communication professionals to develop critical thinking about media in all its forms. Topics include news and data literacies, inequalities in media representations, media manipulation, disinformation, and social media activism. At the end of the course, you will better understand how to use media strategically to work toward social justice and counter the spread of disinformation. 

COML 518: Online Course Design & Teaching - 3 credits

With a focus on the college classroom and corporate and organizational training setting, this course develops skills for online course design. Topics explored include instructional techniques, syllabus creation, assessment, grading, presence and engagement matters, strategies for building inclusive classroom culture and climate, and navigating 51³Ô¹Ï performance and engagement issues. The course will consider how real-time or simultaneous and non-simultaneous teaching modes may be incorporated and combined into effective online instructional design strategies.

COML 520: Internship - 3 credits

You will complete an approximately 120-hour internship under the supervision of a communication professor at a local college or university for one semester or quarter. The internship includes the development of a portfolio and evaluations from internship supervisors. With guidance from COML faculty you will work to arrange your internship.

COML 521 Travel Writing - 3 credits

This course explores communication theory, ethical frameworks, research methodology and cultural literacy as they relate to travel communication. A travel communicator fosters the spirit of exploration using a variety of methods and platforms with the intent of ethically promoting and documenting components of travel. The genre ranges from the documentary to the evocative, from literary to journalistic, and from humorous to serious. This course will show you how to engage your experiences more deeply in both strange and familiar places.  

COML 522: Renaissance Rhetoric - 3 credits
Includes short-term study abroad in Florence, Italy
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience

Fifteenth century Italy and Florence, in particular, saw a flowering of the arts and scholarship unmatched in history. This can be seen in the rhetoric of art and architecture, religious preaching, political writing and oratory, and in the humanistic philosophy that emerges from it. Whether the fiery oratory of the Dominican Friar Savonarola trying to reform the republic of Florence, the famous letters of St. Catherine of Siena trying to persuade the Pope to repair a schism in the Church, or Nicola Machiavelli’s The Prince as a primer on leadership, all provide an amazing repository of examples of the birth of humanism and its influence on persuasive discourse to lead social progress. Additionally, Donatello’s sculpture, Sandro Botticelli’s paintings, Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings, and Michelangelo’s art will be analyzed to understand the rhetoric of the time and how the visual played an important role in communication with society. This course examines this period through readings, discussions, and on-site visits to historical settings in Florence. We will formulate and explore the critical questions necessary to understand these ideas and their application to today. Using the Italian Renaissance as the canvas, we will study multiple examples of rhetoric.

COML 524: AI & Communication - 3 credits

Artificial Intelligence is the new technological frontier and will affect many aspects of our lives in ways yet to be conceived. From ChatGPT to DALE-E 2 to Replika the way we create, interact, and communicate is evolving. This course will examine the ways in which artificial intelligence is used as a tool to communicate – in business, education and personal settings through the written, visual and verbal uses of AI. The course will discuss how we can implement AI tools to solve various problems that face our society in areas including environmental, social, business, and health while understanding the ethical issues and concerns inherent within AI. Students will explore the design, use and potential for AI tools through hands-on interactions.

COML 525: Advanced Pedagogy – 3 credits
Prerequisite COML 510

With a focus on the college classroom and corporate and organizational training setting, this course develops skills for online course design. Topics explored include instructional techniques, syllabus creation, assessment, grading, presence and engagement matters, strategies for building inclusive classroom culture and climate, and navigating 51³Ô¹Ï performance and engagement issues. The course will consider how real-time or simultaneous and non-simultaneous teaching modes may be incorporated and combined into effective online instructional design strategies.

COML 528: Non Profit Communication & Arts Leadership
Includes 3 days on campus
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience

This course explores key components that create the operating framework for nonprofit arts organizations, as well as trends, challenges and opportunities, making use of organizations within the Spokane region as an example and laboratory. We will cover selected topics to prepare 51³Ô¹Ïs with the content needed to think strategically about planning as a function of sustainability, equity, justice, community-building, and in the pursuit of making great art. A quality plan clarifies the strategic direction of the organization and provides strategies that will be used to achieve the organization’s artistic mission, while also ensuring organizational health and vibrancy.

COML 529: Arts & Leadership: Building Cultures of Inclusion
Includes 3 days on campus
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience

This course explores how arts institutions reflect and affect civic values, justice and the common good through their leadership and community engagement. Built around a 3-day residency with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture (MAC), 51³Ô¹Ïs will examine case studies to analyze how cultural organizations navigate inclusion, build trust, share power, and drive change. Using historical and contemporary case studies, 51³Ô¹Ïs will analyze issues of access, inclusion, and representation in cultural institutions and develop leadership frameworks for cultural institutions to collaborate with diverse communities.

COML 530: Women, Communication and Leadership - 3 credits

This course will look at gender differences in leadership styles and efficacy as well as specific communication issues women face in attaining and retaining leadership positions. Through readings, discussions, videos, and projects that critically examine images and gender stereotypes of women leaders, the course is designed to give you practical skills you can use to become better communicators and leaders.

COML 540: Digital Media Analysis - 3 credits

In this course you will learn how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of digital communication, including website traffic and social media.  You will gain specific tools for analysis and presentation of data in meaningful ways and develop media strategies based on data insights.  This class will use case studies and practical exercises to help you understand analytic techniques.

COML 541: Advanced Digital Media Analysis - 3 credits
Prerequisite: COML 540

In this course, you will build upon fundamental concepts of how to measure and evaluate the effectiveness of digital communication and apply those principles more fully in the realm of digital marketing.  Part of the class includes preparing a portfolio campaign proposal.  The class is grounded in best practices behind the strategy, execution, measurement and analysis of multichannel campaigns.

COML  545: Digital Surveillance, Algorithms & Ethics - 3 credits

The internet plays a large role in our lives, but what really happens when you log into social media or search for a job, news, a political issue or even a restaurant online? In this course we will raise the curtain on what is really happening behind the scenes in these digital spaces. Who is collecting your data, how is it being used and stored, should it be used and stored, and how do algorithms really work? We will cover the issues surrounding privacy and surveillance and the ethical questions facing organizations and individuals. Some of the other topics we will study include, algorithmic bias, network neutrality, accessibility, content moderators, intellectual property and surveillance capitalism.

“This class has definitely been one of the most interesting and relevant courses that I have taken throughout the COML program.” Student Fall 2020  

COML 550: Visual Data Communication - 3 credits

There is a vast quantity of data out there and it is not neutral, so how do you communicate important information gathered from data clearly and efficiently? In this course you will learn how to visualize information in a way that is easier for your audience to use and understand. You will strategize how to move beyond the written word and traditional presentations in order to create engaging graphic representations, that are accessible and ethical and send a clear message. One of the best examples on how data is used today is the visual representations surrounding the COVD-19 pandemic. Part of your course work includes using data visualization, graphic and analytic tools.

COML 555: Artificial Intelligence and Communication - 3 credits

Artificial Intelligence is the new technological frontier and will affect many aspects of our lives in ways yet to be conceived. From ChatGPT to DALE-E 2 to Replika the way we create, interact and communicate is evolving. This course will examine the ways in which artificial intelligence is used as a tool to communicate – in business, education and personal settings through the written, visual and verbal uses of AI. The course will discuss how we can implement AI tools to solve various problems that face our society in areas including environmental, social, business and health while understanding the ethical issues and concerns inherent within AI. You will explore the design, use and potential for AI tools through hands-on interactions.

COML 560: Communicating for Behavior Change – 3 credits

Using communication to influence behavior change is a popular and important strategy to address social and health problems. The study and practice of these strategies is called health communication. Our information systems lately have been saturated with health communication efforts related to the global pandemic and medical device and pharmaceutical breakthroughs but other broad topics, such as health living and disease prevention, also have long histories of focus. Health communicators use various approaches and frameworks to “move the behavioral needle” of individuals and populations and two of those are risk communication and social marketing. Risk communication seeks to inform audiences of when they face health risks and when they may need to change their behavior. Social marketing is the process of “selling” specific behavior to individuals and populations using the same marketing tenets utilized by the private sector to sell products, but instead of profits as the end goal, the desired outcomes are social, organizational, environmental and public health improvements. This course introduces you to the concepts and theories related to these areas of study and help you to apply them to health communication events and strategic communications in other contexts.

COML 570: Globalization and Its Impacts - 3 credits

In this course you will become familiar with a variety of global issues tied to organizational performance and to analyze those issues using systems-thinking concepts and tools.  You will gain a deeper understanding of social relationships of interdependence and accountability, as well as skills to integrate diverse ideas and perspectives from a variety of sources.

COML 572:  Communication, Leadership and Community Development - 3 credits
Includes short-term study abroad in Cali, Colombia
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience

You will contribute to the work undertaken by the Social Responsibility Office at Javeriana University in partnership with various community media and communication organizations active in the Ladera and Aguablanca districts in Cali to learn about and participate in community development projects geared to empowering disadvantaged young people.

COML 690: Directed Study - 3 credits

Arranged with faculty

ORGL 506: Leadership and Diversity - 3 credits

Who we are – whether we are comfortable with this idea or not – is shaped in part by the social roles we occupy and how society sees us in those roles. As we will see from the very beginning of this class, our social roles, the class we are born into and our gender all have implications for our lives. We will explore intercultural communication as a tool for bridging differences and learning about identities, practices, and cultures.

ORGL 510: Renaissance Leadership for the 21st Century - 3 credits
Includes short-term study abroad in Florence, Italy.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

This course will help emerging leaders develop new perspectives and strategies and bring healthy creativity and energy to their organizations. Drawing upon the creative processes of artists, painters, architects, musicians, and writers, 51³Ô¹Ïs will apply the same dynamics of creative thinking to the practical work of leaders. An interdisciplinary approach explores the power of Renaissance thinking as it applies to renewal, rediscovery, invention, and creativity.

ORGL 515: Leadership and Human Potential - 3 Credits 

Continuous innovation is critical to organizational health and happens when we find the keys to unlocking human potential. In this course, you will learn how to reframe attitudes and unlock creativity to find solutions to challenges in whole new way. Tap into your own ability to facilitate change and engage those around you to come up with new ideas. You will learn tools to address the frustrations sometimes present in group dynamics in any organization, including school groups, community organizations and fortune 500 companies. You will become familiar with the following strategies and interventions: design thinking, growth mindset, appreciative inquiry summit, future search, open space, and world café that will help you create a healthy interactions and organizational culture focused on growth.

ORGL 516: Organizational Development - 3 credits

Change is a messy affair. In this course you will learn how Organizational Development Consultants (both internal employees and external consultants) can support leaders and all members of an organization to achieve their goals for change through a human centric approach. Coursework focuses on ways to balance organizational and workforce needs, with tools for research, identifying problems and giving feedback that will be well received. You will become aware of biases, learn from resistors to change and develop your own learning agenda as a master change agent. You will also explore every step of the Organization Development process, including entry, discovery and data gathering, diagnosis and feedback, intervention planning and implementation, and evaluation. 

ORGL 517: Organizational Change and Transformation - 3 credits
Includes 3-day immersion offered on campus and virtually in a synchronous format.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

Managing change is a critical skill to support organizations in achieving their goals, mission, and vision. Building on theories from the field of change management, the experiential learning while on campus in Spokane will introduce multiple interventions, reinforcing that different situations require different approaches. The course is appropriate for people in various levels and types of organizations, providing the tools to support effective change leadership.

ORGL 518: Transforming Leadership - 3 credits

How do contemporary leaders go beyond the social exchange theory to convert followers into leaders and leaders into moral agents? This course offers a comparison of transactional and transforming leadership by examining past leaders and events. An examination of the dynamics of transformation and how leadership can facilitate it within individuals and organizations will help 51³Ô¹Ïs develop new insights into the theory and practice of transforming leadership.

ORGL 520: Negotiation and Conflict Resolution - 3 credits

This course provides an overview of conflict on different levels, from micros through mezzo, macros to violent international conflict. Using real-life situations and case studies, 51³Ô¹Ïs will practice skills and strategies for dialogue, decision-making, and ultimately conflict transformation and system change. This application is generic and therefore appropriate for all professions whether formally or informally involved in resolving conflict.

ORGL 522: Leadership, Community, Empowerment, Collaboration, and Dialogue - 3 credits
Includes 5-days at St. Andrews Abbey in Valyermo, CA.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

What is the meaning and purpose of life and activity? How is need for such meaning and purpose encountered in community? How does the leader develop community to facilitate individual growth and collective flourishing? Through study, experience, and scholarship 51³Ô¹Ïs explore and practice the leadership processes of empowerment, collaboration, and dialogue in the context of creating structures and processes for sustaining and transforming community. At the Benedictine Abbey 51³Ô¹Ïs become participant observers in a five day immersion designed to explore, practice, and come to an expanded understanding of the role and purpose of the leader’s involvement and commitment to building and sustaining meaningful and purposeful community.

ORGL 523: Psychology of Leadership - 3 credits
Includes 3-days on campus.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

This course offers an introduction to the field of psychological issues in leadership. While the field is considered relatively new and growing, this course focuses on three popular and often discussed themes in this area: personality development, emotional intelligence and dimensions of a psychologically healthy workplace. Through the use of lecture, discussion, class exercises, film and readings 51³Ô¹Ïs will begin with a look at leadership success and failure from the lens of psychology. Importance will be placed on the 51³Ô¹Ï understanding the psychological challenges of being in a leadership role and how to interact effectively with those who behave in ways that are less than productive for the organization. The middle section of the course offers an in-depth exploration of those psychological capacities necessary for effective leadership. Finally, characteristics of a psychologically healthy work environment will be explored. 

ORGL 530: Servant Leadership - 3 credits

The foundations of Servant-leadership are explored with an emphasis on reviewing the original writings, and on conceptualizing and articulating the philosophy through a clarification of what it is, and why Servant-leadership is relevant. Human development theories are used as theoretical frameworks for identifying criteria to assess servant-leaders and servant-organizations, and for understanding how they develop and function. Dialogue is encouraged as a way of integrating aspects of the philosophy with applied experience and gain insights into the 51³Ô¹Ïs own leadership approach.

ORGL 532: Leadership, Justice and Forgiveness - 3 credits

Emotional discipline based in love calls a person toward meaningful responses to human suffering. Such responses are grounded in discernment regarding human conflict, oppression, power, and harm, and the opportunities—personal, familial, societal, and global—that rise from the crucible of potential that is our humanity. The course engages you toward self-responsibility in the context of reconciliation, and the depth of heart, mind, and spirit that leads to healing and growth in community with others. You will work to apply the interior leadership necessary for discernment and action within oppressive systems.

ORGL 535: Listen, Discern, Decide - 3 credits

In this class, you will learn more in-depth concepts of Servant-leadership by learning approaches and practices of listening and discernment as a way of enhancing decision-making capacity. The course begins with a focus on interior and exterior listening. Listening and awareness techniques are then integrated with the principles and practices of discernment. The course progresses from a focus on the individual, to group, to listening and discerning and decision making in organizations and communities.

ORGL 537: Foresight & Strategy - 3 credits
Prerequisite - ORGL 530

In this course you will integrate more of the servant-leader characteristics, and further develop the disposition of a servant-leader. The course explores the art, science and methods leaders use to acknowledge, stimulate, and further develop their capacity of foresight.  You will engage macro-system perspectives in applying strategy and stewardship as you consider introducing vision into the reality of complex organizational and community systems.

ORGL 550: Team Building and Leadership - 3 credits
Includes 3-days on campus.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

This three-day intensive program is designed to increase your knowledge and understanding of leadership and team development through a combination of information sessions and active participation in cooperative, challenge activities. Challenge activities are designed to enhance your critical thinking skills, creativity, problem-solving ability, and ability to work effectively within a team. These activities present opportunities to taking leadership roles, recognize leadership styles, identify what works and what doesn’t work in given situations, and apply lessons to real life situations. Topics include the communication process, leadership models and styles, stages of team development, ethics, diversity, and visionary or principle-centered and creative leadership.

ORGL 551: Advanced Team Building and Leadership Intensive - 3 credits
Includes 3-days on campus; Prerequisite: ORGL 550.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

This 3-day intensive program is designed to be taken along with ORGL 550, building on key concepts learned. The advanced session shifts the focus from group participation to group facilitation through team building and leadership development activities.

ORGL 570: Introduction to Global Systems - 3 credits

We exist in a rapidly shrinking world of intensifying technological, economic, social, cultural, and political interconnections. Organizations across a range of fields and industries are increasingly more diverse and international, and leaders have to address this complex work environment both domestically and globally.  You will become familiar with a variety of global issues tied to organizational performance and be able to analyze those issues using systems-thinking concepts and tools. You will gain a deeper understanding of social relationships of interdependence and accountability, as well as skills to integrate diverse ideas and perspectives from a variety of sources. Further through case studies, simulations and discussions of current issues you will be able to refine global leadership skills such as self-awareness, inquisitiveness, open-mindedness, and cultural sensitivity.

ORGL 577: Methods of Inquiry and Strategy for Contemporary Global Issues: A Brussels European Forum Simulation- 3 credits
Includes short-term study abroad in Brussels, Belgium.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

Acquire the fundamentals of leading in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous global contexts while practicing strategic leadership integrating multinational perspectives. Develop the leadership capacity to examine contemporary global issues, comprehensively analyze policies, negotiate towards bilateral agreement, and work in multinational contexts to create viable and sustainable solutions. Competencies are gained from class instruction, mentorship, and coaching from an international simulation at the epicenter of the European Community, NATO, and the home of various multinational institutions in Brussels, Belgium.

ORGL 660: Reading in Social Systems - 1 to 3 credits

This individualized study course is based on readings in a specific topic designed in consultation with the instructor. You will discuss the selected readings on a tutorial basis with the instructor and prepare an annotated bibliography or bibliographical essay. Although individualized, this course is treated as a seminar in which you share your work with other 51³Ô¹Ïs and the faculty member assigned to the course.

ORGL 670: Projects in Organizational Leadership - 1 to 3 credits

This independent study course consists of a formal research project investigating a problem in applied organizational or social research conducted under the tutelage of the instructor Although individualized, this course is treated as a seminar in which you share your work with other 51³Ô¹Ïs and the faculty member assigned to the course.

ORGL 671: Projects in Group Behavior - 1 to 3 credits

This independent study course consists of a formal project of original research in a topic of group behavior that proceeds from a research design approved and monitored by the instructor. Although individualized, this course is treated as a seminar in which you share your work with other 51³Ô¹Ïs and the faculty member assigned to the course.

ORGL 681: Leadership and Storytelling - 3 credits
Includes 3-days on campus.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

Stories permeate virtually every dimension of our existence as noted in the familiar quote: “Civilizations have existed without the wheel, but no society has ever existed without story.” With groundwork in narrative, the class focuses on the kind of leadership that is demanded by the current world situation: Leaders who lead from their real selves or, Authentic Leaders. After exploring an understanding of authentic leadership, the course will shift focus to a key tool for leaders: the leadership story.

ORGL 689: Leadership and Hardiness - 3 credits
Includes 4-days at Mt. Adams, WA.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

What is hardiness and resilience and why can some people access it and others cannot? In this unique immersion you will be introduced to psychological hardiness through readings, team projects and a climb at Mt. Adams, the second highest peak in Washington State.  You will gain an understanding of existentialism by exploring what is meaningful and how what is meaningful, informs attitude and feeds courage during adversity, both personally and organizationally.  You will examine how leaders have both failed and succeeded during extremely difficult circumstances.  Using course readings and research you will investigate what makes an organization hardy and resilient.  You will work within a small team and as a class as you plan your expedition to Mt. Adams.

ORGL 689: Global Citizenship - 3 credits

In 2016, GlobeScan found that 51% of people surveyed across 18 countries viewed themselves primarily as global citizens, rather than as citizens of their own nation. Considering the many issues currently facing ‘citizenship,’ such as the international migration crisis, Brexit, and the 2016 US Presidential election, how do we transcend political and state borders to assume the rights and responsibilities of our world? As an individual, we are ethical consumers, engaging actively in global issues. As a group, we must acknowledge our diverse global workforce through inclusivity, alongside the dedicated commitment to the well-being of those in our organizations, as well as our interconnected industries, communities, and world. This course will assist you in developing the personal and professional competencies required to responsibly address our increasingly globalized industries and society. You will gain a deeper understanding of how global citizenship can successful exist in micro-levels of organizational teams and small groups. This course offers an integrated, transdisciplinary, practical, and dynamic framework for you to learn how global citizens must think, act, and communicate among diverse, intercultural populations.

ORGL 690: Communication, Leadership and Community Development - 3 credits
Includes short-term study abroad in Cali, Colombia.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

Emphasizing face-to-face as well as the use of digital communication tools, the class provides classroom instruction and practical training to help leaders better understand community development needs, as well as how individuals and organizations might work inclusively in partnership with local community institutions to engage and build up local community capacity and empowerment.

ORGL 693: Gonzaga: Camino de Santiago - 3 credits
Includes short-term study abroad in Spain.
This is a hybrid course and requires online course work before and after the immersion experience.

This immersion class focuses on the role of social infrastructure as a leadership tool for finding common ground and building healthy relationships in communities. The immersion is a 100km walk on the way of St. James, concluding at Santiago de Compostela.

Master's in Communication and Leadership

• Apply communication and leadership theories and models to understanding and resolving complex real-world challenges
• Enhance skills in planning, presenting and evaluating digital, written and spoken communication for maximum impact
• Increase intercultural communication competencies that foster inclusive and equitable environments for all members of an organization 
• Recognize and resolve ethical issues in communication and leadership in line with commitments to norms such as justice, care and pluralism
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge in a sub-field of communication and leadership
• Grow in leadership abilities by enhancing: strategic and critical thinking skills; knowledge and confidence in self-expression; relational savvy in groups and teams; and creativity and the ability to engage with ambiguity and complexity

Master's in Organizational Leadership

• Apply organizational leadership theories at a variety of levels (personal, group and system)
• Demonstrate an ability to develop and sustain effective relationships in a variety of contexts
• Develop imaginative, creative and innovative solutions to solve problems within organizations
• Apply social justice-oriented ethical criteria in communication and leadership practices
• Demonstrate an ability to effectively facilitate change within organizations