Core Courses
Students in the Center's master's degrees programs in Communication, Environment and Community, Management and Leadership, Organizational Development or Whole Systems Design take a combination of foundational core courses, courses in Reflective Practice and specialization courses.
Core Courses
Systemic Thinking for a Changing World
Develop conceptual frameworks and integrative and analytic skills for understanding complex, dynamic patterns in human and natural systems. Students gain an understanding of the relationships between world views (and mental models) and actions (including thoughts, behaviors, policies, social structures, etc.) with particular attention to the influences of dualism, reductionism and wholism.
Communication Design
Learn and share perspectives and skills for designing, presenting and evaluating effective communication. Students gain the ability to analyze rhetorical contexts including intention, audience and hoped-for outcomes as well as an understanding of the visual dimension of written and oral presentation.
Critical Inquiry and Ways of Knowing
Learn social inquiry by completing and critically reflecting on several small research projects. While learning research methods, students address fundamental questions about the construction of knowledge as the foundation for action and about power as it relates to representation and communication in social change. The focus is on newer methods of qualitative social research.
Global Pluralism
Political, social, environmental, spiritual and economic forces interact to create a dynamic global system. Information technology and transportation technology enable personal contact among people of different cultures, different political ideologies and different world views. Gain perspective of self in a global context and explore key forces that impact the world community.
Sustainability
Use practical examples and conceptual models to explore the many dimensions of sustainability - ecological, social, economic, organizational and personal - and how they interact with each other.
Transformative Leadership and Change
Leadership is a process of influence, a dynamic process of interaction among individuals in relationship to achieve a result. Systemic in nature, leadership requires an increased awareness and ability to reflect critically on assumptions. Students gain a nuanced understanding of the dimensions of power, social organization and cultural diversity as applied to leadership opportunities and challenges.
Caucus
You join a half-day seminar with faculty and students in your degree program. Through these seminars, you apply a program-specific perspective to the interdisciplinary core courses during your first three quarters.
Methods and Applications of Sustainable Change
You complete two reflective practicum seminars of three consecutive quarters each:
Methods for Sustainable Change
In simulated situations, you explore current methods and theories to implement sustainable change. In addition, you do a case study of an actual change project in a business, organization or community.
Applications of Sustainable Change Capstone Change Project
You develop and execute a change project either in a team or individually, supported by a seminar facilitated by faculty and community/business leaders.
Specialization Courses
Students in the Center's master's degree programs also are required to take a series of specialization courses. These courses provide students with an in-depth knowledge relevant to their chosen degree subject.
For information on required specialization courses for each degree program, please visit:
