Humanities courses help students across McMaster develop valuable leadership skills
With a series of courses offered through the Faculty of Humanities, any student in any Faculty can learn about leadership.
Science students learn the ins and outs of working in a lab. Engineering students learn about mechanics, stress and force. Business students learn about profit and loss.
And, with a series of courses offered through the Faculty of Humanities, any student in any Faculty can learn about leadership: how to be a mentor, how to communicate effectively, how to manage relationships and how to drive social change.
These leadership courses form part of the concurrent certificate in Leadership and Cross-Cultural Literacy, which is currently in the process of being revamped.
“The Faculty of Humanities is home to an innovative suite of courses that engage students from across campus in the theory and practice of ‘leadership’. There are specific skill sets and sensibilities that Humanities can offer to students that can help them in the world, whether that’s succeeding in the workforce or graduate studies, or having an impact in their local and global communities,” explains Alpha Abebe, an assistant professor in Humanities who oversees the leadership curriculum. “These classes offer students with interdisciplinary and experiential learning opportunities that enhance their leadership capabilities through soft skills development, reflexive practice, and community service.”
In several courses, leadership students become mentors to students in the McMaster English Language Diploma (MELD) program, which is a one-year program designed for international students whose primary language is not English and who want to improve their communication skills before entering an undergraduate program at McMaster.
Leadership students work with one to three mentees to help enhance their language skills through student-led activities and social interaction. They also support MELD students with any goals or questions they might have in their transition into an undergraduate degree program at McMaster.
Campus tours – in pre-pandemic times – interactive games like Pictionary, trips to the McMaster Museum of Art and discussions about TED talks have all been popular, valuable activities led by leadership students, says Abebe.
“The activities allow the MELD students to develop skills in a fun way and connect with each other – and the leadership students get to apply and enhances the skills we’ve talked about in class in real time,” she says. “This isn’t formal English-language training or tutoring – the point is for them to establish goals with their mentees and work together on achieving these goals.”
In another class, students work together to create a community-engaged project. This year, students raised money for Ronald McDonald House, developed programming for first-year students, and launched a social media campaign encouraging mental wellbeing.
For Bridget Timmins, a new graduate of Humanities’ Justice, Political Philosophy and Law program, enrolling in the leadership curriculum gave her a chance to develop skills she might not otherwise have developed in the classroom.
“This is an alternative, hands-on learning experience that teaches you practical skills, like emotional intelligence, relationship management and how to lead through effective questions,” she says. “I would go from a lecture to a class where I would go to the museum with the MELD students I was working with – I was learning just as much, just in a different way.”
Even as the leadership programs grow and develop, Abebe says that both students and future employers recognize the value of teaching these types of skills in a formal way.
“Universities are realizing that, beyond the core curriculum, there’s a desire to better prepare students for the world of work and community service,” she explains. “Employers often share that they are well equipped to provide content-specific and technical training to prospective employees, however they need students who are flexible, adaptable, analytical, willing to take initiative, and have good communication skills – all the skills they develop in the Humanities.”
