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Servant Leadership in the Urban Setting (SLUS) WCSC 285 and WCSC 485 | Fall 2020 | Mondays, 4:00pm - 6:00pm (via Zoom)

Washington Community Scholars’ Center | Eastern Mennonite University Professor: Ryan M. Good, Ph.D. (ryan.good@emu.edu)

SLUS rhymes with juice! (or What’s this all about?)

At its core, SLUS is the space within a WCSC term for processing this experience, including your internship and group life. (What are you learning? About yourself? About the city? About where you’re headed?)

It’s a class for thinking about meaningful work and figuring out what that looks like. We will work on developing goals and a mission statement for guiding our internship experiences this semester and our career and vocational trajectories going forward. (What kind of work do you want to do? What kind of work should you be doing? What values do you want to have shape your career decisions?)

Through reading, writing, discussion, and guest speakers, we will think critically about leadership and engage the idea of servant leadership as a guiding framework and set of values. (What makes good and effective leadership? What kind of leaders do we respect and hope to become?)

We will also work on building skills that will enable us to take the next steps in our own professional lives and realize the professional selves that we aspire to become.

Servant Leadership in the Urban Setting is technically two courses: WCSC 485 Servant Leadership (2 SH) and WCSC 285 Internship Theory and Practice (1 SH). We treat the combined experience as one course that shall henceforth be called “SLUS class.” You will receive one grade for SLUS, which will be applied to both courses. During fall 2020, SLUS will meet online, via Zoom.

Photo credit: Room & Board Panorama (cropped) by Mr.TinDC. Creative commons licensed flickr image.

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Course outcomes

1) Students will leave the WCSC program having processed and reflected critically on challenges, learning, and personal growth in the context of their internships and the WCSC house.

2) Students will be able to articulate the meaning of work, what makes work meaningful, and the roles that they hope professional or vocational work will play in their lives.

3) Students will develop a critical consciousness around styles of leadership and organizational cultures that reflect their own values and to which they aspire.

4) Students will develop confidence, experience, and skills for networking and informational interviewing to advance their career and vocational goals.

5) Students will learn to craft an effective cover letter and resume. 6) Students will learn to develop and articulate personal and professional goals, both near term

and longer term.

EMU Core Community Learning objectives In achieving the following objectives, WCSC 285 Internship Theory and Practice satisfies the Community Learning requirement of the EMU Core. 1) Students will demonstrate community involvement. 2) Students will reflect on issues encountered in their involvement and integrate those

reflections into further learning in that course.

EMU Core Senior Seminar learning objectives In achieving the following objectives, WCSC 485 Servant Leadership satisfies the Senior Seminar requirement of the EMU Core. 1) Students will evaluate their cross-cultural and faith growth at EMU. 2) Students will record progress toward their vocational calling as they transition from EMU. Course outline

Week Date Topic and due dates

1 8/31 - 9/6 [Orientation]

2 9/7 Career, vocation, and the pursuit of meaningful work Due: Response blog (Sun)

3 9/14 Internship goals; Informational interviewing and professional email etiquette Due: Journal (Sat), Response blog (Sun)

4 9/21 Resumes and cover letters; Introduction to mission statements Due: Journal (Sat), Response blog (Sun)

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9/28

Speaker: Peter O’Driscoll; Communicating with and around power Due: Journal (Sat), Job you will apply for (Sun)

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6 10/5 Service and servant leadership Due: Journal (Sat), Response blog (Sun)

7 10/12 Speaker: Bianca Ward; Checking in on our internship goals Due: Journal (Sat), Response blog (Sun), Identify who you will interview and why (Sun)

8 10/19 Job documents workshop; Revisiting mission statements

Due: Journal (Sat), Cover letter and resume (Sun)

10/23-25 WCSC Retreat

9 10/26 Personal mission statements Due: Revised mission statement (Mon)

10 11/2 But is this what I’m supposed to be doing? (Book discussion: Palmer); Social media(ting) our lives Due: Journal (Sat), Response blog (Sun)

11 11/9 Speaker: Ricardo Villalba Due: Journal (Sat)

12 11/16 Internship poster presentations Due: Journal (Sat), Response blog (Sun), Internship poster and presentation (Mon)

13 11/23 Speaker: Laura Worby; Self-care in work and life Due: Journal (Sat)

14 11/30

Reconciling our personal and professional selves; Reporting on informational interviews Due: Journal (Sat), Response blog (Sun), Come prepared to discuss your informational interview (Mon)

15 12/7 Debriefing the semester Due: Journal (Sat)

16 12/14 The Final Feast Due: Final reflection paper (Sun)

Course requirements

Attendance and participation (20%) – Attendance and active engagement in SLUS class sessions and on retreat—through discussion and engagement with guest speakers—is expected of all students. I recognize that different ones of us find it easier to participate in different ways and that active listening is just as important as talking in any discussion. I will do my best to facilitate a variety of types of engagement. For full credit, however, I expect that your body language will communicate that you are present and engaged, and that you will make a diligent effort to respond to guest speakers and to participate in discussion. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle. (Please note that dereliction of one’s household duties can also compromise this component of your SLUS grade.)

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Weekly journals (24%) – You will write and submit one journal per week, beginning Week 3 (Sept. 12) through Week 15 (Dec. 5), for a total of 12 journals (excluding Week 9, when we are on retreat). Your journal submissions are due on Moodle by midnight on Saturday evenings. Each journal is worth up to 2 points. For full credit, journal entries should demonstrate careful observation and thoughtful reflection about your WCSC experience. Journals should be a minimum of 300 words and should reflect the mechanics of proper writing. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle. You are invited (but not required) to consider engaging one of the suggested prompts at the end of the syllabus, page 11. Please also report how many hours you worked in the preceding week. Additionally: one of your journal entries will be a 300-500 word story reporting on your time in DC, to be submitted to The Weather Vane. You can write in any of the following categories: news, opinion, feature story, style, sport, or arts. During the first week, you’ll sign up for a date to write your Weather Vane submission. Jamie will work with you to submit these stories. You should submit a headshot, along with your story.

Response blogs (16%) – You will submit eight response blogs during the semester, responding to questions about required readings or to an assigned prompt. Questions and prompts are listed in the syllabus and on Moodle. Each blog is worth up to 2 points. For full credit, response blogs should fully address the prompt, demonstrate thoughtful, integrative thinking, be a minimum of 300 words, and reflect the mechanics of proper writing. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle. Your response blogs are due on Moodle by midnight on Sunday evenings.

Internship poster and presentation (10%) – Create a visual representation of your internship experience (assignment details at the end of the syllabus, page 12) and present your poster to the rest of the group during SLUS class on November 16. The purpose of this assignment is to identify aspects of your internship experience that have been the most significant for you and to convey this through images and words. (What has been fun? What has been hard? What has taught you the most? What has surprised you?) Be as creative as you can! In your presentation, you will talk about your poster and what about your experience it represents. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle.

Cover letter and resume (10%) – Find a job opening that interests you and prepare a cover letter and resume that you could use to apply for that position. You will submit the description of the position you have identified by midnight on September 27, along with an explanation of why you are interested in the position and why you are a strong candidate. By class time on October 19, submit your cover letter and resume through Moodle and print two hard copies of each document. We will workshop your job documents during class. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle.

Informational interview (5%) – Identify a professional contact who you respect, whose position or career path interests you, and/or who you would like to know better (or who you would like to have know you better). Submit a paragraph by midnight on October 11 explaining who this person is and why you would like to interview them. Then set up and conduct the informational interview. We will discuss how to do this in class on September 14. Complete the interview by November 30. We will report on and discuss this experience during class on that date. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle.

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Final reflection paper (15%) – At the end of the semester, you will submit a final reflection paper that is an opportunity for stepping back and reflecting on your WCSC experience. Assignment details are at the end of the syllabus, page 13. Your paper is due on Moodle by midnight on December 13. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle.

Texts

We will be reading one book in its entirety (Palmer) and parts of another (Isay). All other assigned readings, podcasts, and videos can be accessed electronically through Moodle. Additional readings may be added over the course of the semester.

Isay, D. (2016). Callings: The purpose and passion of work. New York, NY: Penguin Books. Marsh, C. D. (2017). Nowhere Else I Want to Be. San Francisco, CA: Inkshares.

Palmer, P. J. (2000). Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Freeney Harding, R. (2015). Remnants: A Memoir of Spirit, Activism, and Mothering. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Policies and expectations

Respect for each other I will do my best to facilitate a space where all voices and perspectives are respected. I expect the same from you. You do not have to agree with other people’s opinions, but you do need to practice respectful listening and constructive dialogue. If at any point you feel that you have been disrespected or are uncomfortable with something that happened during SLUS, please come and talk to me about it.

Electronics in the classroom The goal of this class is to be present to and engaged with what (and who!) is going on right around us. Thus, I ask that phones be on silent and put away during SLUS meetings. Laptops and tablets may be used to refer to readings or notes during our discussion, but—for the sake of our time together—unless I specifically ask you to do so, internet or social media browsing are not allowed. It goes without saying that all electronic devices are put away when we are with a guest speaker. I will hold myself similarly accountable.

Academic integrity I take plagiarism, cheating, and other violations of academic integrity extremely seriously. They will not be tolerated. If you have any questions, review the EMU Academic Integrity Policy at https://resources.emu.edu/confluence/display/LancHandbook/Student+Academic+Integrity+Policy.

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Late assignments

Late assignment submissions will be penalized 10% per day.

Grading scale A (93-100); A- (90-92); B+ (87-89); B (83-86); B- (80-82); C+ (77-79); C (73-76); C- (70-72); D+ (67-69); D (60-66); F (59 or below)

Disability accommodations

If you have a physical, psychological, medical, or learning disability that may impact your work in this course, it is your responsibility to contact the Office of Academic Access (http://www.emu.edu/academics/access/) on the third floor of the Hartzler library. This office will work with you to establish eligibility and to coordinate reasonable accommodations. All information and documentation is treated confidentially.

Title IX

It is important for you to know that all faculty members are required to report known or alleged incidents of sexual violence (including sexual assault, domestic/relationship violence, stalking). That means that I cannot keep information about sexual violence confidential if you share that information with me. For example, if you inform me of an issue of sexual harassment, sexual assault, or discrimination I will keep the information as private as I can, but I am required to bring it to the attention of the institution’s Title IX Coordinator. Incidents that have occurred on campus, at a campus event, and/or while a student at EMU require follow up by the Title IX Coordinator. If you would like to talk to the Title IX Coordinator directly, Rachel Roth Sawatzky can be reached at 540-432-4133 or rachel.roth.sawatzky@emu.edu. Additionally, you can also report incidents or complaints through our online portal at http://emu.edu/safecampus/. You may report, confidentially, incidents of sexual violence if you speak to Counseling Services counselors, Campus Ministries pastors, and Health Services personnel providing clinical care. These individuals, as well as the Title IX Coordinator, can provide you with information on both internal and external support resources.

Please refer to the Student Handbook which can be found at https://emu.edu/studentlife/ for additional policies, information, and resources available to you.

Virtual Office Hours

This fall I will schedule standing 1-on-1 Zoom check-in meeting time slots with each of you. It is entirely up to you whether you wish to meet with me on any given week. When I respond to your journals by email on Mondays, I will ask whether you’d like to meet or not.

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Course schedule

August 31 – September 6

Week 1 – [Orientation]

September 7 Week 2 – Career, vocation, and the pursuit of meaningful work

Read / Listen:

You 2.0: Dream jobs (2018). Hidden Brain [Audio podcast]. (Listen to the podcast or read the transcript.)

Callings: The purpose and passion of work, by Dave Isay (2016). (Select and read 20 conversations from this book.)

Response blog: (1) List the 20 conversations you read (name and career from the table of contents). (2) What takeaways stand out to you about work in the U.S. and what makes work meaningful? Refer to specific conversations that you read.

September 14 Week 3 – Internship goals; Informational interviewing and professional email etiquette

Read:

How to Get the Most Out of an Informational Interview, by Rebecca Knight. Harvard Business Review.

3 Steps to a Perfect Informational Interview, by Lily Zhang. The Muse.

Response blog: In preparation for setting goals for your internship, respond to the following questions:

1) What technical skills do you want to build through your internship? 2) What background knowledge would help you perform better? 3) What soft skills (i.e., interpersonal skills) would help you in this work? 4) Who are two people at your internship that you’d like to know better?

September 21 Week 4 – Resumes and cover letters; Introduction to mission statements

Read:

What they don’t tell you about jobs, internships, and your career. (Adapted from Eric Woodard’s convocation and workshop at Eastern Mennonite University on October 23, 2019.)

How to write a cover letter. Glassdoor.com.

How to write a resume. Glassdoor.com.

Your personal mission statement action plan, by Andy Andrews (2016).

Response blog: What 5 priorities are most important to you in evaluating a job?

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September 28 Week 5 – Speaker: Peter O’Driscoll (Executive Director, Equitable Food Initiative); Communicating with and around power

Listen:

Knock Knock! Who's th— MANTERRUPTING COWORKER (2018). Battle Tactics For Your Sexist Workplace [Audio podcast].

Watch:

Own Your Behaviours, Master Your Communication, Determine Your Success, by Louise Evans (2017). TEDx Talks.

Due: Submit the job opening you will be preparing materials to apply to. Explain why it is of interest and why you are a strong candidate. Submit on Moodle by midnight on Sunday, September 27.

October 5 Week 6 – Service and servant leadership

Read:

New Managers Need a Philosophy About How They’ll Lead, by Carol A. Walker (2015). Harvard Business Review.

Why isn’t servant leadership more prevalent? by James Heskett (2013). Forbes.

The Drum Major Instinct, by Martin Luther King Jr. (1968). Sermon delivered February 2, 1968.

Response blog: (1) What qualities or behaviors are most important for effective leadership? (2) What is your response to the idea of servant leadership? Is it something to which we should aspire? Why or why not?

October 12 Week 7 – Speaker: Bianca Ward (Associate Director, Health Care Access, NASTAD. Artist and entrepreneur: allthingsbalexis.com); Checking in on our internship goals

Read:

A Couple of Truths About Adulthood That No One Tells You, by Courtney E. Martin (2017). OnBeing.org.

Response blog: Courtney Martin describes coming to the awareness that nobody has their shit together. What have you learned this fall about the imperfection of people and organizations? How do you feel about the messiness in your own life? What types of maturity do you admire in others or wish to develop yourself?

Due: Submit a paragraph explaining who you will interview for your informational interview and why you would like to interview them. Submit on Moodle by midnight on Sunday, October 12.

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October 19 Week 8 – Job documents workshop; Revisiting mission statements

Due: Cover letter and resume. By class time on October 19, submit your cover letter and resume through Moodle and print two hard copies of each document. We will workshop your job documents during class.

October 23-25 WCSC Retreat

October 26 Week 9 – Personal mission statements

Due: Revise mission statement and be prepared to share your mission statement in class.

November 2 Week 10 – But is this what I’m supposed to be doing? (Book discussion: Palmer); Social media(ting) our lives

Read:

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation, by Parker Palmer (2000).

Response blog: What ideas stand out to you from Palmer’s book? Why? Describe one idea that you found helpful and one idea that you did not like.

November 9 Week 11 – Speaker: Ricardo Villalba (Founder and CEO, Washington Digital Media)

November 16 Week 12 – Internship poster presentations

Due: Complete your poster in time for class and be prepared to show and discuss it.

Response blog: Write a short description of the organization where you are working. Include the organization’s mission statement, how the organization fulfills that mission, and a brief summary of its history.

November 23 Week 13 – Speaker: Laura Worby (Family Nurse Practitioner, Community of Hope); Self-care in work and life

Read:

A History of Self-Care, by Aisha Harris (2017). Slate.com.

How to build a ‘rest ethic’ that is as strong as your work one, by John Fitch & Max Frenzel (2020). FastCompany.com.

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November 30 Week 14 – Reconciling our personal and professional selves; Reporting on informational interviews

Read / Listen:

Can You Really Bring Your Whole Self to Work? (2019). On Being with Krista Tippett [Audio podcast]. (Listen to the podcast or read the transcript.)

Due: Come prepared to discuss your informational interview.

Response blog: Jerry Colonna presents a vision of a workplace where, rather than checking our emotional selves at the door, we engage fully as people with those around us. He contends that engaging in this full (and sometimes messy) way can help us all grow—and also leads to more creative and productive workplaces. In similar terms, he talks about a leader’s role as helping colleagues grow into their best possible selves. What do you make of his vision? How does it relate to ideas of servant leadership?

December 7 Week 15 – Debriefing the semester

December 14 Week 16 – The Final Feast

Due:

Final reflection paper. Submit on Moodle by midnight on December 13.

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Journal prompts to consider…

Internship - What is something you feel you’ve learned about yourself at your internship (e.g., the way

you interact with others, the way you like to work, or the kind of place you’d like to work)? - What at your internship challenges you the most? What gives you the most energy?

- What is most meaningful about working at your internship? Why? - What areas of personal or professional growth are you working on right now? - How has your internship affirmed, challenged, or created new ideas about where you would

like to go with your career? - Who at your internship is somebody you would like to emulate in your own career and

vocation? Why? (Conversely: are there people whose examples you don’t want to follow?) - Has your internship (or moving around the city) created any dilemmas for you that you are

wrestling with? Are there questions or issues you’d like to discuss with the group?

Group life - What goals do you have for yourself in the context of group life? How will you (or how have

you) worked toward achieving those goals?

- What are you learning about living with other people? - What role(s) would you say you play in the context of this group house? How do you feel

about this? Why? - What dynamics or situations in the house are most challenging for you? How do you work

with these challenges? - Are there things going on outside of this house or outside of DC that are affecting you? - What are you, as a group, doing well? What could you be doing better? What needs to

happen (and what steps can you take) for the house to do those things better?

Integrating your WCSC experience - What are some things you’d be excited to say you had a chance to do while you were in DC?

(Or, what exciting things have you done that you’d recommend to others?) - What are you thinking about your future? What things will be important to you in your future

jobs, your future lifestyle, your future housemates or partners?

- What has surprised you most this semester? - What stands out to you as a key learning or area of growth that you’ve experienced while

you’re in DC?

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Internship poster and presentation

The poster This is an opportunity for you to reflect on what has been most significant about your internship experience thus far and to communicate that significance through a visual representation. The significance of your experience may center on what you are learning. It may also center on what has been fulfilling, what has been hard, or what has surprised you the most. What is it that you see yourself taking away from this experience? How is this experience affecting you or how you see the world? As part of the process of developing your poster, I encourage you to revisit your internship goals and to consider where you have seen movement (or not).

Be as creative as you can be! Photography. Drawing. Abstract imagery. Poetry. Collage. We will provide poster board and some other basic artistic supplies, but do not be constrained by these! Creating a digital poster is also an option.

Your poster is due in SLUS class on November 16.

The presentation During class on November 16, you will present your poster to the group. Explain your poster and what it means. Why did you select those aspects of your experience that shaped the poster? Why did you represent them the way you did? What meaning did you seek to convey?

In addition to explaining your poster, your presentation should include a short description of the organization where you are working and the specific work that you are doing through your internship. At a minimum, tell us the organization’s mission, what activities it pursues to achieve this mission, and the types of tasks or activities that fill your day.

Together, the poster and presentation are worth 10% of your grade. A grading rubric is posted on Moodle.

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Final reflection paper

Your final assignment asks you to step back and reflect on your WCSC experience. Please write a reflective essay in response to each of the following prompts:

1) What have you learned about what you want to do? How has this WCSC term affected your thoughts and plans about the type of work you want to do and the roles you hope work will play in your life?

2) What does good leadership look like? What characteristics of good leadership are most important to you? In what ways would you like to grow as a leader? How has your WCSC experience affected your vision for effective leadership?

3) How did your group do? Evaluate how your WCSC group functioned as a community house this term? Give your group a rating on a five-star scale and explain why you rated it the way you did. What did the group do well? What did the group do not as well? What roles did you play in these contexts?

4) What was challenging for you? Describe something that was challenging for you during your time in Washington, DC. How did you engage this challenge? How do you feel about it now?

5) Tweeting a takeaway. What’s the most important thing you learned while you were in DC? In 280 characters and spaces, capture a key learning or takeaway that will go with you as you leave WCSC. Write the tweet, and then explain what it means, describe the experiences that shaped what you learned, and reflect on why it matters.

Include the questions as headings within your paper, separating the five essays. In total, your paper should be between 1,800 and 3,000 words (approximately 6 to 10 pages, double spaced) and should follow proper rules of style and grammar.

Submit your final reflection paper on Moodle by midnight on December 13.