LEADERSHIP STUDIES PROGRAM
Morehouse College has been producing outstanding leaders for more than 150 years. The Leadership Studies Program [LSP] in the Andrew Young Center for Global Leadership serves as a designated space where younger and older scholars might critically examine social justice-oriented leadership in an interdisciplinary and collaborative manner.
The legendary ‘schoolmaster of the movement,’ Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, President of Morehouse from 1940-1967, stated:
It will not be sufficient for Morehouse College, for any college, for that matter, to produce clever graduates —but rather honest men, men who can be trusted in public and private life —men who are sensitive to the wrongs, the sufferings, and the injustices of society and who are willing to accept responsibility for correcting those ills.
The Leadership Studies Program is devoted to this mission. The threefold purpose of education for Mays, writes one of his biographers, “was to train the mind to think clearly, logically and constructively; to train the heart to understand and sympathize with the aspirations, the sufferings and injustices of mankind; and to strengthen the will to act in the interest of the common good.” The Leadership Studies Program extends the legacy of Mays and Thurman (’23) as well as Martin Luther King, Jr. (’48) and Ambassador Andrew Young with its conscientious commitment to producing Morehouse Men who are prepared to serve as ethical leaders in the ongoing struggle for freedom and justice for all.
The AYCGL LSP is beholden to the namesake of the Center, namely, Ambassador Andrew Young, who characterizes Morehouse College as “leadership factory” that produced iconic social justice-oriented leaders from Benjamin E. Mays and Martin Luther King Jr to Julian Bond and Maynard Jackson. Ambassador Young claims that leadership development requires—and the LSP strives to provide—experiential learning, advocacy training, community service, and study abroad.
The Leadership Studies Minor (LSM): An Interdisciplinary Approach
Academic excellence and ethical integrity exemplify the ideal of socio-ethical leadership at Morehouse College. Mays, Thurman, and King embody this ideal, certainly, but it is exemplified in the lives of other Morehouse alumni as well. An interdisciplinary team of faculty developed the revised Leadership Studies Minor curriculum in 2019. Our Leadership Studies Minor is heritage-centric and emphasizes social justice-oriented leadership. The Leadership Studies Program relies heavily on problem-based learning, experiential learning, and service-learning. The Leadership Studies Program reflects the unique mission of Morehouse College. The Leadership Studies Program emphasizes what is sometimes called “servant leadership” (Greenleaf), i.e., leadership aimed at empowering or otherwise serving others and correcting societal inequities. We find precedent for this model of leadership in Carter Woodson, who encouraged us in his Miseducation of the Negro (1933) to “translate the idea of leadership into that of service.” The LSP reflects and supports the unique mission of developing men with disciplined minds who will lead lives of leadership and service.
The pedagogical ideal of socio-ethical leadership is preoccupied with questions of a sensitive heart, a disciplined will, and a logical mind. The Leadership Studies Program (LSP) provides an academic minor and a heritage-centric curriculum designed to nurture and support social justice-oriented leaders. In addition to conventional academic courses, students who minor in Leadership Studies are encouraged to participate in a wide array of experiential learning opportunities in the AYCGL from study abroad and leadership lectures to policy advocacy and mentorship programs. Over the past year, the LSP has expanded to support more than twenty minors. The Leadership Studies Program contributes to the General Education curriculum in the form of “Social Justice Leadership” (HLS101-FYE) and “Introduction to Black Leadership” (HLS111). Affiliated faculty also teach upper-level courses, including “history and theories of leadership” and special topics seminars featuring community leaders and Morehouse alumni.
Leadership Studies Curriculum Requirements:
It is recommended that students begin the course sequence (i.e., HLS 101/111 and HLS 201) leading to a minor in leadership studies during their freshman or sophomore year. The 17-hour curriculum is comprised of five three-credit hour courses, plus a sequence of two one-credit hour capstone modules. The leadership studies minor begins with either HLS 101(FYE) “Social Justice Leadership,” or HLS 111 “Introduction to Black Leadership”; each of which serves as a gateway to the minor and a prerequisite to the second core course, viz., HLS 201, “History and Theories of Leadership.” Additionally, students will select three elective courses (nine hours), not more than one course (3 hours) from any discipline: Elective courses are available in HLS (e.g., HLS 301, HLS 412, HLS 414, HLS 455, and HLS 475) as well as a predetermined list of minor electives from disciplines outside HLS. The final requirement of the HLS minor consists in the completion of a service leadership-oriented capstone project comprised of a two-semester sequence (HLS 465 and HLS 466), either in the junior or senior years, of two one-credit hour courses.
For more information about the Leadership Studies Program, or to declare a Leadership Studies Minor, contact Dr. Amos Johnson (amos.johnson@morehouse.edu).