Certificate in Intercultural Leadership

Proficiency Areas

The certificate program consists of six areas of proficiency that a student must demonstrate in order to be certified as a Saint Mary's College intercultural leader. The six areas develop students’ knowledge of the self, others, and the interconnected relationship of leaders to the world.

Focus on your leadership

Recognize the Leader Within
Articulate Your Ethical/Spiritual Center

Focus on intercultural skills

Engage with and Value Diversity
Dialogue on Power and Privilege

Integrate leadership and intercultural competence to take your place in the history of social change

Create Inclusive and Equitable Communities
Make Your Difference in the World

How do the required activities relate to the six proficiency areas?

While a student may experience growth in many areas from an activity, listed below are the intended outcomes of each required activity.

Required Activity	Proficiency Area	Overall Program Goal
Kick-off Retreat	1. Recognize the Leader Within	Provide students with an orientation to the tools of developing their intercultural leadership (self- assessment, creating personal mission statements, and ongoing personal development).
Peer Mentoring	1. Recognize the Leader Within	Develop students’ networking skills and ability to see selves in a continuum of social change, as leaders.
Community-Based Learning	2. Articulate Your Ethical/Spiritual Center	Practice social responsibility to the larger community.
Study Abroad	3. Engage With and Value Diversity	Practice discovery/interaction with diversity, de-centering, re-centering, and flexibility in an international context.
Catalyst Trip	4. Dialogue on Power and Privilege	Practice reflection, challenging, interrogating, unpacking of power dynamics in personal experience of difference in relationship with a group.
Inclusive Leadership Project	5. Create Inclusive and Equitable Community	Practice participatory skills of inclusion and collaboration.
Mentoring from Community Partner and International Leader	6. Make Your Difference in the World	Develop students’ networking skills and ability to see self in a continuum of social change, as a follower.
Capstone Retreat	6. Make Your Difference in the World	Empower students to develop a plan for lifelong intercultural engagement and practice of intercultural leadership.
Meetings with Advisor	ALL	Classes to count toward the certificate, as well as additional activities to be selected by the student in consultation with a portfolio advisor.
Create E-Portfolio of Intercultural Leadership Activities and Reflections	ALL	Every portfolio will contain reflection paper/s or project/s for each proficiency area that tangibly document student’s competence as an intercultural leader, as well as a summative discipline-based reflection paper.
Nine credit hours	Varies for each student’s portfolio	Develop students’ ability to articulate connections between their curricular and co-curricular intercultural leadership education.

CWIL · 9 Havican Hall · Saint Mary's College · Notre Dame, IN · 46556-5001 · Phone: (574) 284-4051 · Fax: (574) 284-4141 · E-mail:

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