BY ALICIA FEYERHERM
FHSU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Jill Arensdorf will teach LDRS 420 Women and Leadership this fall.
Women and Leadership has been offered as a course for over a decade, but this will be Arensdorf’s first time teaching the class.
“This is a course I’ve been interested in and a topic that I’ve been familiar with for many, many years,” Arensdorf said.
The course, created by Christie Brungardt, founder of Jana’s Campaign and assistant Leadership Studies professor, explores several different topics.
Arensdorf will help students explore leadership within the framework of women and gender issues, look at leadership theory as it relates to women, learn about the historical and social context as it relates to women and leadership and explore barriers and challenges for women in leadership roles. All of these topics will be looked at from both a historical and a present-day perspective.
Arensdorf has also invited guest speakers to lecture throughout the semester.
In her role as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Arensdorf does not have a teaching appointment in her job description.
“It’s not something that I have to do, but it’s something that I think is important for me to do occasionally to just keep myself grounded with students,” Arensdorf said.
Arensdorf said that being back in the classroom will also help her understand the needs of fellow faculty members as she will be “walking in their footsteps”.
There is no prerequisite for LDRS 420 and the course can count as elective credit.
“It’s going to be specific to every student’s major,” Arensdorf said. “Most majors across campus have elective hours and so this would count for an elective. This class isn’t just for Leadership Studies majors.”
Additionally, Arensdorf noted that the class welcomes people of all genders – not just those who identify as female.
“The beauty of this course is having lots of students from lots of different backgrounds and majors coming together to talk about women leadership,” Arensdorf said. “We don’t always have a lot of students who identify as male in the class, but we would be delighted to have a great balance of gender mix in the course.”
LDRS 420 will take place from 12:00 – 1:15 p.m.Tuesdays and Thursdays in Rarick Hall 123. Students may register for the course through Workday.