Want to improve your knowledge of world faiths? Keen to develop your leadership skills? Want to meet men and women in positions of leadership from different faith backgrounds?
What’s it all about?
LSE forms future leaders. Our students come from all over the world and go on to positions of leadership in business, finance, government and civil society. 34 have become world leaders.
To lead successfully in today’s world it is increasingly clear that you need a sophisticated understanding of religion. Three quarters of humanity now profess a religious faith. That is set to rise to over 80 per cent by 2050.
But we’re increasingly aware that religion can be used for the bad as well as the good. The twenty-first century requires leaders who are sufficiently informed to understand the complex relation of religious narratives to social and political change and relate their own faith commitments wisely to the responsibilities they bear.
I gained a greater understanding of different faiths, but deeper than this an understanding of living with difference beyond tolerance.
What’s involved?
Our flagship Faith and Leadership course runs throughout both Michaelmas Term and Lent Term, and is divided into three individual modules.
Each module runs on three to four consecutive Monday evenings and culminates in a half day applied workshop, usually on a weekend. Students are able to apply to as many modules as they like, and a full calendar of the sessions is available on our website. The whole programme will culminate in a weekend retreat in early April 2023. Students that
successfully complete at least one module will be able to apply to take part in the weekend retreat.
Module 1: Religious Imaginations in Todays World
This Module will help participants to understand the fundamental imaginative foundations of different religious traditions. Eminent faith contributors will explore the concepts that motivate and structure religious thinking today. This module will also explore how faith influences the public sphere, despite this connection often being overlooked in the Western world.
Module 2: Faith Based Climate Action
This module will ground participants in the reality of the climate crisis, exploring faith perspectives as an imaginative resource and developing faith-inspired initiatives across religious differences to address the major issue of our time.
Module 3: Conflict Transformation
This module explores some of the key tools and perspectives necessary to understand effective conflict transformation, particularly within religiously charged contexts. A series of practical workshops and conversations with field practitioners will be delivered.
Weekend Leadership Retreat
The BFL module will culminate in a weekend residential trip. Students who successfully complete at least one BFL module will be eligible to apply to take part in our weekend leadership retreat that will take place on Sunday 2 April and Monday 3 April 2023.
Probably the best course I have taken at the LSE.
What is the commitment?
The course is free of charge with no preparatory reading and no final assessment, but commitment to the sessions is imperative.