The ILS is the interdisciplinary academic home for leadership studies at KU

The Institute for Leadership Studies (ILS) supports KU’s mission of educating students who can effectively engage in the process of leadership with innovative, interdisciplinary academic programs. Through the ILS these academic programs are collaboratively designed to educate and prepare students to make a difference from where they are with what they have, developing the courage and leadership skills to ignite positive change. 

The ILS currently houses:

Preparations for additional programs are underway and future programming will include:

  • Study Abroad
  • Expansion of our undergraduate course offerings
  • Development of a graduate curriculum to include certificates and degree programs
  • Alumni programming
  • Faculty and staff development
  • Research and grant development
  • Women’s leadership programs and curriculum

Interdisciplinary Leadership Studies Minor

First offered to KU students in the spring of 2001, the Leadership Studies Minor (LSM) began as a collaborative partnership between the Department of Communication Studies and the Student Involvement and Leadership Center. The first LSM cohort graduated in the spring of 2003. Believing that a complementary interdisciplinary approach allows students to develop a breadth of innovative capacity that can cross disciplinary boundaries, the LSM fosters a tolerance for ambiguity, empathy, perspective taking, and a self-awareness that promotes active reflection and elevates multiple perspectives in diagnosis and problem solving. The ILS continues to design and offer dynamic academic programming in partnership with departments and schools across the university to provide a foundation from which students can engage their disciplinary content with greater efficacy to then foster effective leadership skills within their major content area.

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Research

It is also the focus of the ILS to elevate the university’s research contributions in the field of leadership and expand grant development opportunities. By maximizing the university’s intellectual capacity, the ILS generates research and delivers academic programs that foster effective leadership among students, the university community, alumni, and external constituencies. In doing so, the ILS fulfills its mission to create leadership capacity among all of its stakeholders for thriving in the face of challenge, conflict, and change.

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