Online-based study program: Human Development and Leadership in Cross-Cultural Dialogue (B.A.)

Objectives: Why Human Development and Leadership in Cross-Cultural Dialogue?

Human Development is more than capacity development as it places the whole human being with his/her interests, needs and meaning in the centre of attention - not his/her ability or functionality. It wants to enable humanness in all of its expressions. Human development is the necessary foundation for capacity development: Once we create an environment where people have the freedom to explore and express who they are, to live according to their values and in line with their personal and cultural identity, they will be able to develop their full potential and consequentially lead fruitful, creative lives.

This program distinguishes itself distinctly from common leadership programs. Leadership will be looked at from a wide array of perspectives: neuroscience, philosophical, historical, cognitive, emotional and spiritual. Most importantly it will be scrutinized through a multicultural lens. Leadership is always contextual. Therefore the program envisions investigating uniquely individual and cultural ways to lead instead of teaching predefined models or typologies. The goal is to develop the learner’s inner leadership capacity to be able to lead authentically and congruently from the inside out.

The challenges we will be faced with in the future will be progressively of a global scope. Therefore the solutions, which must be initiated, have to be of global dimensions as well. These solutions can only be found in genuine cross-cultural dialogue which sees difference as chance and true wealth of humanity instead of difficulty and threat. The uniqueness of this program is its design as a truly international program. It wants to bring people from all across the world together: face to face and online. It desires to involve students as well as instructors with various cultural backgrounds in meaningful encounters. People will learn dialogically with and, most importantly, from each other for their own life worlds gaining a new awareness and enhanced critical consciousness.

Target group: Whom is this program for?

The program is mainly directed at professionals and volunteers working within the YMCA worldwide. While it wants to build strong national movements and area organisations, it focuses on the ability to effectively work cross-culturally to fight deprived education & poor leadership, poverty & financial challenges, marginalisation & violence, environmental exploration and its disastrous consequences (Challenge 21).

However, it is not only directed at people working within the YMCA. It is most suitable for people who are already in (formal or informal) leadership positions in their local communities with no formal leadership education or for people who would like to become future leaders in their local communities or YMCAs, in the YMCA network or other NGOs that work in international contexts.

In very general terms, this program is targeted at people who would like to work cross-culturally. These people are going to find great value taking this foundational B.A. program. Because of its universal, broad-spectrum approach and the applied human service skills it teaches, it serves as a stepping stone for further, more specialised academic ventures (M.A. or doctorate degrees) and equips graduates with most relevant skills for their work (e.g. conflict resolution, capacity development, business administration, cross-cultural communication or negotiation skills, etc.).

Learning Outcomes: What do people get out of this program?

People taking the program will learn about themselves. They will look at identity, conscious and unconscious triggers, biases, values, fears, inner conflicts, how to handle inner diversity and their inner shadow to find unique resources, motivation and meaning. All of this is foundational to gain cross-cultural sensitivity, to communicate wholly, genuinely and impactful, to lead virtuously and ethically. Coaching skills and the art of conflict transformation will be the core ingredients to develop far reaching peace building and community development capacities.

Proactive executive competence as well as organisational, administrational and managerial competence combined with technological skills to leverage newest technology to empower projects, people and communities will equip learners to move things ahead. Relevant research skills and further pertinent knowledge (e.g. well chosen, applicable aspects of sociology, law and politics) will enhance their analytical capacities.

The program equips leaders to effectively communicate and work together with leaders from other countries in the large arena of international dealings. The learners of the program shall be enabled to become spokes-people powerfully addressing local issues and needs, and also being aware of and pointing out resources, capabilities and potentials people themselves have. They shall become strong bridges or connecting links between local and international transactions being able to phrase what their people need and what they are capable of doing in a language that is clearly understood in the theatre of grand global players. In short: the qualities which will be highlighted throughout this program will be the ability to mindfully evoke people’s genuine voices, to listen thickly and deeply through and within cultural differences, to hold space for creative human development.

Overall structure: How will the program be organized (time commitment, etc.)?

The B.A. in Human Development and Leadership comprises a total of 180 Credit Points (CP). Study time of a full academic year equals 60 CPs, 30 CPs for one semester. That means studying full time students will be able to gain the B.A. in three years, or 6 semesters. Although each person learns differently, a broadly agreed upon rule of thumb seems to be to calculate roughly 25 to 30 hours of work load per credit point which translates to 30 hours of study time per week.

The program will be delivered in the blended-learning model which combines highly interactive and very flexible asynchronous online learning phases with short (2-4 weeks per year) synchronous on-campus phases, so called “residencies”. These residencies will take place in several places around the world – depending on the student body and their needs – we envision a “university on wheels” enabling people from developing countries to learn in their own life contexts and/or to expose learners travelling to other countries to partake the residencies to foreign environments.

Theoretically the blended learning model would allow students to work while studying. However, important to note with regards to the B.A. in Human Development and Leadership is, that it is designed as a full-time-study three-years program whereas usually part-time B.A. programs take at least four years.

The tuition fee: How much will it cost?

At the YMCA University Kassel tuition fees are calculated by credit points: 1 CP = 80 €; the total of 180 CP = 14.400 €. However in order to take into account the different life circumstances of students taking this program, flexible students fees will be in effect. Moreover diverse creative sponsoring models will be explored for people coming from developing countries.

Prerequisites: What do people need to apply?

Several requirements are needed to be able to enroll and to successfully complete the degree:

First of all people applying need a high school diploma equivalent to the German Abitur. According to the legal framework of the province Hessen special vocational qualifications can be accepted as well (www.hmwk.hessen.de). For all of the programs at the YMCA University Kassel people have to proof that they have some practical experience working in the field of youth work, community development or social work in general. People have to apply personally – this involves a conversation with the coordinator of the program sharing their motivation and interest in taking it.

Secondly people need to have access to reliable internet connection to be able to participate in the online phases of the program. The knowledge and skill to successfully maneuver through the online part of the program, to use the learn platform Moodle and all of its tools is part of the program. No prior knowledge is needed.