Credit Hours/Contact Hours:

3 credit hours, 45 contact hours.

Course Description

The development of leadership skills requires more than lecturers, reading assignments and discussions which occur in the normal classroom setting. It requires a learning environment that encourages new behaviors, that builds confidence in each person's ability to achieve, and that reinforces newly acquired skills. The leadership workshops onboard create this environment in three ways: students learn by doing, they receive feedback from peers and trained facilitators, and they become members of a strong support system which remains throughout the voyage and their lives. This particular course focuses on introducing the skills that are the foundation of leadership development: basic communication, self-disclosure, consensus-seeking, and group participation, co-operation and competition.

This course will focus on experiential learning and the practice of leadership skills, communication patterns, group dynamics, consensus seeking, and problem solving. This course will be taught in modules, formatted as a mini-workshop series.

Specific Course Objectives

• Each person will practice basic communication skills in group and one-on-one exercises.
• Each group will participate in a problem-solving activity and experience the importance of each group member's contributions.
• Each participant will give and receive feedback to and from other participants
• Each participant will apply the workshop experience to their setting at Sea|mester and later at home and college.

For the complete course syllabus and overview, please download the Sea|mester Student Handbook.