The purpose of LEAD 581 - Special Topics, is to provide graduate students with an opportunity to receive graduate credits in the Leadership Studies program for participating and/or attending conferences, institutes, or other events related to their growth as a scholar and/or professional. Students enrolling in the special topics course(s) will be responsible for attending all conference events, completing the assignments as noted in your syllabus, and other papers and/or projects as assigned by the professor of record.

Peace Leadership will teach the skills needed to resolve small and large-scale conflicts, create global change, and further the causes of peace and justice. Concentrating on the skills that are vital for effective leadership, this course will teach the powerful form of leadership that is needed to promote progress and positive change in communities, countries, and the world. Many leadership books and courses are focused on business, but this course will teach the form of leadership that Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Susan B. Anthony practiced. It is also the form of leadership that our world will require if humanity is going to solve its most serious problems and survive in the 21st century.

Paul K. Chappell graduated from West Point in 2002, was deployed to Baghdad, and served in the army for seven years in numerous leadership positions. West Point has one of the best leadership programs in the world, and since leadership principles are universal, much of West Point’s leadership training can be applied to peace, human rights, conflict resolution, and global change. This course will prepare students with the skills they need to make a difference in the world. This course will also complement the values taught at USD by giving students a variety of skills they can use to put their values into action. Peace leadership skills are life skills, and the ability to resolve conflict and wage peace not only allows us to make a positive difference in the world, but in our communities, families, and personal lives.