The minor in Leadership, Ethics, and Social Action requires:


LESA Office:
210 Woodburn Hall
Phone: 855-6308
lesa@indiana.edu

  • an application submitted by the spring of the sophomore year
  • an introductory course (3 credits)
  • an ethics course (3 credits)
  • a social organization course (3 credits)
  • a civic engagement seminar (3 credits)
  • a capstone project involving a semester of preparation, a proposal, and a semester of completing the project and attending a seminar (3-6 credits)


    • Fall 2008 course offerings that count for the minor

    Summer 2008 course offerings that count for the minor

    1) Introductory Course: 3 credits    Top

    LESA-L105 Beyond the Sample Gates

    Sample Syllabus

    L105 fulfills the Topics requirement for the College of Arts and Sciences and carries S&H distribution credit. Take this course in your freshman year. Two hours of weekly service in a community organization is required.

      What is the role of volunteering in addressing social problems? How can you strengthen your leadership skills and your voice toward becoming an agent of change? What cultural assumptions influence our decisions and actions? In addition, you will be encouraged to follow your own questions to a deeper level-to enjoy taking your own ideas seriously enough to work them out in logical detail and to give them the language they deserve for the consideration of others.
    2) Ethics course: 3 credits (A&H)   Top

    How does an individual make responsible decisions? What sets of personal values create individual decisions? What are the intellectual sources for moral behavior in the contemporary United States? What are these sources in other countries and in other time periods? What is justice? What is equality? Are these important? Why?

    Choose one of the following:

  • PHIL-P 140 Introduction to Ethics
  • POLS-Y 105 Introduction to Political Theory
  • REL-R 170 Religion, Ethics and Public Life


    • Higher-level substitutions are available. Contact the advisor for information.

    3) Social Organizations course: 3 credits (S&H)   Top

    How do individuals organize themselves into communities? How is capital developed? What can communities do for individuals that they cannot do for themselves? How do societies shape individual behavior? How do individuals create society?

    Choose one of the following:

  • ANTH-E 105 Culture and Society
  • ANTH-E 200 Social and Cultural Anthropology
  • SOC-S 215 Social Change
  • SOC-S 217 Social Inequality
  • HIST-A307 American Cultural History
  • Hist-A 347 American Urban History


    • Higher-level substitutions are available. Contact the advisor for information.

    4) Civic Engagement Seminar: 3 credits   Top

    This seminar includes research and writing about a community issue or policy. Choose one of these courses by the spring of your junior year. Check the advisor recommendations for which courses will be offered each semester.

    Offered courses vary by semester. Recent choices included:

  • ANTH-E 400 Field Seminar Cultural Documentation (various--see advisor recommendation)
  • CMCL-C 304 Communication and Social Conflict
  • CJUS-P 427 Girls, Violence, and Antisocial Behavior
  • POLS-Y 313 Environmental Policy
  • SOC-S 360 Topics in Social Policy
  • TEL-T 414 Public Communication Campaigns


    • 5) Capstone Project and Seminar 3-6 credits   Top

    LESA-L 405 Capstone Seminar

    Prereq: All other courses must be completed by the spring of the junior year, before taking L405, and a project proposal must be submitted at that time. Consult the advisor for more information.

    The LESA Capstone experience offers the student an opportunity to pull together the learning from his/her major into a useful, tangible product. Working with a member of the local community's nonprofit organizations, grassroots associations, or local schools, the student designs a project that meets a need as articulated by the community. With the help of a sponsoring faculty member who may or may not be in the student's major field, the student draws upon the accumulated coursework in the College of Arts and Sciences to inform this service project. Description of the Capstone Project

    The capstone process begins in the spring of the junior year when the student takes a 1-credit preparation course. By discussing interests and ideas with a faculty sponsor from the College and with a partner from a community organization, the student will design a proposal and research project informed by the needs of that organization. In the fall of the senior year, students complete their projects and meet for reflection, compiling a portfolio and participating in a public presentation of their projects at the end of the semester.

  • List of faculty mentors


    • List of students and projects



    Courses in the Minor | Application | Advising and Contact | Capstone Links | Service Learning | Resources




    Last updated 3/20/2008
    Copyright 2000-2001, The Trustees of Indiana University