Fall Semester:

All Global Leadership students are required to take GT 2803 with GL faculty director, Dr. Rudy Gleason. This is a 3 credit course offered only in the fall. The course will emphasize four key ‘threads’ of becoming a global leader.

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1. Global Goals Thread (25%): To be a global leader, it’s important to understand the challenges the world faces and our goals to overcome these challenges. This course will introduce you to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). You will be able to explain each UN SDG and describe specific activities that aim to advance these goals.
2. Innovation Thread (35%): Leaders are creative and inventive people who discover new and better ways to solve the worlds problems. You will work in teams to formulate a new and innovative idea that could impact at least one of the SDGs and develop a sound strategy to test the effectiveness of this idea. You and your team will write and present several iterations of a grant proposal describing your innovation. You will learn the technical skills needed to complete each portion of their grant proposal while also learning how to create solutions for diverse cultures. You will also learn how to critically evaluate research, ideas and proposals.
3. Cross-Cultural Thread (25%): Global leaders engage well with people from different cultures. You will perform a cultural research assignment to describe the religious, political, historical, economical and cultural background of a country previously unfamiliar to you and describe where this country stands relative to the SDGs.
4. Leadership Thread (15%): You will cast a vision for the steps you can take to become a global leader. You will explore the roles of people working in their field and advancing the SDGs. You will imagine your ‘graduation package’, by articulating your purpose statement, your resume and experiences, and letters of recommendation you’d like to have when you graduate. 

Spring Semester:

All Global Leadership students are required in spring semester of their first-year to take a class from an approved list of courses focusing on one of two themes: sustainable development or international and multi-cultural awareness.

GL approved courses often fulfill other GT requirements such as English, Ethics or Social Sciences. 

A list of approved courses is provided every October based on current offerings, but previously approved courses include Environmental Engineering Principles; Science, Technology and Religion; Ecology; the Global Economy; Sustainable Urban Development; and Democracy and Fiction.

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Every month, Global Leadership students are invited to build connections with faculty or local experts addressing the United Nations SDGs over dinner. 

Events are limited to 20 participants so students have a chance to engage with speakers in more informal dialogue than lectures and conferences allow. 

Guests come from a variety of fields including the Living Building Project in the School of Biology, the Ray C. Anderson Center for Sustainable Development, the CDC, Habitat for Humanity, Piedmont Park Conservancy, and IBM.

Global Leadership students have opportunities throughout the year to learn about the SDGs first-hand by volunteering with organizations advancing them here in Atlanta and worldwide. Whether it’s working toward SDG 2 - Zero Hunger with a Rise Against Hunger meal packing event or helping achieve SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities during Trees Atlanta’s work replanting urban forests, Global Leadership students are eager to put their values into practice inside and outside the classroom.

The world is in Atlanta, and Global Leadership students are able to take advantage of Georgia Tech’s proximity to organizations at the forefront of addressing the UN SDGs on local and global scales. Each semester GL visits organizations addressing sustainability in a variety of fields from micro-financing programs to cyber-security for elections to conservation genetics for endangered plant species to preserving and sharing cultural practices.

Leaders in today’s world will need to collaborate with and manage diverse teams. Being able to communicate effectively across different cultures is crucial to success. Global Leadership students have the opportunity to participate in the Iceberg Intercultural Workshop. 

ICEBERG is a three-part program that improves communication skills by developing students' self-awareness, empathy, and understanding of how cultures shape interactions and vary around the world.

Participants define culture and identify their personal cultural values before delving into how cultures vary and affect perception. The workshop includes comparative analyses and discussions on stereotypes, prejudices, and biases.

While not required, Global Leadership students are encouraged to participate and gain valuable communication skills necessary for working with diverse teams.