International Leadership Programs

The Hess International Leadership programs seek to provide students and faculty with opportunities to study leadership around the globe.

Hess International Faculty Leadership Program

The purpose of the Hess International Faculty Leadership stipend is to increase understanding of leadership from international perspectives. The faculty member must participate in research in the field of leadership studies that will directly contribute to an existing or proposed Designated Leadership Studies course. The international experience will allow the professor to better understand some aspect of the culture, society, politics, or history of a part of the world outside the U.S. and how it relates to an understanding of global leadership. Joint student/faculty research proposals will be considered. Upon return, the recipient must write a summary of the research project for the Hess Center.

The stipend is $1000, and approved expenses may not exceed $3500. Applications are due February 11, 2011.

Dr. Randy Law, Associate Professor of History
Odessa, Ukraine, Summer 2008

Dr. Law studied terrorism in the early 1900's in Odessa, Ukraine. During and after the Russian Revolution of 1905, the Ukrainian city of Odessa experienced one of the bloodiest and most concentrated bouts of terrorist violence of any city in modern history. At the time, Odessa was the fourth largest city in the Russian Empire, a cosmopolitan treasure known for its Black Sea port, its tree-lined boulevards, and its ethnically and religiously diverse population. During the Revolution of 1905, though, the city's name became synonymous with terrorism, remaining one of the Empire's centers of violence until well after it was quelled elsewhere. He explored the role of leadership in shaping three distinct elements of this history: the organization and execution of terrorism, popular reactions and interpretations, and the government's response.

Information discovered in Odessa will contribute to readings and discussion in Dr. Law's Designated Leadership Studies course, Twentieth Century Russia (HI 346). The new materials will expand understanding of the role of leadership and leaders in late Imperial Russia. Materials gleaned from this research trip will also contribute to the design of an interim DLS project on terrorism.

Vince-Gawronski- Dr. Vince Gawronski, Associate Professor of Political Science
El Salvador, Summer 2009

This research project used the 2009 presidential elections in El Salvador to understand the complex interdependent relationship between El Salvador and the United States. Dr. Gawronski traveled to El Salvador, observed the 2009 elections, and interviewed the major candidates and the press. El Salvador provides a real-world, social science laboratory for understanding how an extremely polarized society can recover from a long internal conflict, reconcile extreme ideological positions, and become more politically moderate and democratic. The overarching research question was: Which leadership theory or theories can best explain why and how two individuals from diametrically opposed political parties have been able to moderate from the extremes to become viable presidential candidates?

This research will be incorporated into Dr. Gawronski's Designated Leadership Studies course, PS 240: Introduction to Latin American Politics, which he teaches every fall semester. The El Salvador experience will provide the Leadership Studies students in the class with an example of scholarly research in leadership studies.

Take Leadership Studies Courses: Abroad!

Taking Leadership Studies courses on campus is not the only way to complete the Distinction in Leadership Studies program. Aimed at increasing the study of international leadership, Leadership Studies students can now request DLS credit for courses taken abroad.

Approved courses can be substituted for one of the two Designated Leadership Studies courses required to complete the DLS program and usually taken during the junior year. Whether in the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Cairo, or even on a ship through Semester at Sea, students can study leadership through international courses that examine the topic from a disciplinary point of view. Birmingham-Southern is affiliated with numerous international universities that offer courses in leadership through psychological, historical, political science, or business perspectives.

If you are a Leadership Studies student studying abroad and would like to apply for Leadership Studies credit, please review the application and requirements.