UCIL20031, UCIL20030 and UCIL20032
Leadership in Action
- Semester 1 and 2
- Online delivery
- 10 and 20 credits
What does it mean to be a leader in the 21st century?
This unit, led by Dr Amelie Mons encourages an understanding of the importance of leadership of self and others.
Leadership in Action (LIA) units aim to help you understand what it means to be a leader in the 21st century. The units explore complex current problems and ask:
- How does change happen?
- Who makes it happen?
- What does that tell us about leadership and how we do it?
Hear from leaders who are influencing change in the world around us, including some of the university's leading academics and leaders from the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Designed specifically for online learning offering a unique interactive experience.
This unit is accessible to undergraduate students from all disciplines.
About
How can today’s leaders tackle big issues like climate change, poverty, and disaster relief?
This unit will equip you with the tools to critically evaluate models and approaches to leadership and to apply these to a range of complex 21st-century problems such as:
- Sustainable development and climate change
- Poverty and inequality
- Homelessness
- Humanitarian disaster response.
Studying this unit aims to help you develop a toolkit of transferable skills that will boost your employability.
This unit is delivered online via Blackboard in both semesters 1 and 2, with a year-long 20-credit version available to start in semester 1 only.
Unit details
What should I know about this unit?
Leadership in Action:
Semester 1
UCIL20031 (10 Credits)
UCIL20030 (20 Credits) unit over two semesters
The 20 credit version of this unit (UCIL20030) is not available to Year 1 students.
Semester 2
UCIL20032 (10 credits)
This unit has been designed specifically for online learning and offers a unique interactive experience.
The course unit aims to:
- Encourage an understanding of the importance of leadership of self and others
- Broaden intellectual and cultural interests
- Challenge and equip you to confront personal values and make ethical judgements
- Prepare you for citizenship and leadership in diverse, global environments
- Enhance employability
On successful completion of the unit, you will be able to:
- Evaluate different models and theories of leadership, within a 21st-century global context
- Analyse the ways in which leaders influence change and how leadership skills may be applied in both learning and occupational contexts
- Employ reflective learning skills in order to relate models of leadership to personal practice
- Analyse complex, 'wicked', problems and leadership in response to them
The online unit content is delivered via learning modules released at intervals over weeks 1-10 of the semester.
The learning modules in the first half of the semester will introduce and examine:
- A definition of leadership in action
- Key leadership models and theories
- The concept of tame and wicked problems, and leadership in response to them
- How change happens and how leaders both respond to, and influence, change
- Leadership and ethics
- Leadership, politics and the media
The learning modules in the second half of the semester will examine leadership and complex problems, from different perspectives, covering a range of leadership issues and challenges for the 21st century, such as:
- Poverty and inequality
- Homelessness
- Humanitarian disaster response
- Environmental sustainability and climate change
- Business ethics and responsibility
- Urban regeneration, social inclusion and sustainable communities
Facilitated discussion boards, released at intervals alongside the learning modules, will ask you to think about problems, and challenges for leaders, and to analyse them, applying your understanding of leadership theory, in particular leadership in response to wicked problems.
The unit is delivered entirely via Blackboard. It is a highly interactive and innovative unit that adopts a blended approach with a range of audio and video inputs, interactive activities and case studies from world-class internal and external contributors.
In the 10-credit unit, you will work through online learning modules released at intervals throughout the semester. Each learning module uses a range of bespoke audio/video inputs, case studies, and interactive elearning activities designed to enhance your learning and understanding. You will discuss the topics covered in the learning modules in online discussion boards, as part of an interdisciplinary group of around 25 students, supported throughout by a dedicated eTutor.
If you opt to take the 20-credit version of the unit which commences in semester 1 only and runs over both semesters. You will complete the LIA online unit in semester 1 and, supported by your eTutor, will complete an independent research project on a topic of your own choosing in semester 2.
The unit content is supported by elearning activities designed to enhance learning and understanding including:
- Tutor-facilitated online discussion forums examining issues raised by related weekly module content
- Questionnaires and quizzes
And for 20 credits:
- One-to-one tutorials
- Face-to-face and online research workshops
- Online Preparation for Research Module
10 Credits
- Ongoing, end of module assessments, including discussions and short online tests (20%)
- 2 x written assignments: Choice of tasks with a leadership focus (2 x 40%)
20 Credits
- Ongoing, end of module assessments, including discussions and short online tests (10%)
- 2 x written assignments: Choice of tasks with a leadership focus (2 x 20%)
- Preparation for Research Project, including completion of Project Idea and Project Proposal (10%)
- 3000-word report on own choice of individual research project on a leadership theme (40%)
- Dr Amelie Mons
- Dr Maria Kopsacheili
- Contributors from the public, private and voluntary sectors.
Year 1 students are not eligible to take the 20-credit version of this unit (UCIL20030).
UCIL units are designed to be accessible to undergraduate students from all disciplines.
UCIL units are credit-bearing and it is not possible to audit UCIL units or take them for additional/extra credits. You must enrol following the standard procedure for your School when adding units outside of your home School.
If you are not sure if you are able to enrol on UCIL units you should contact your School Undergraduate office. You may wish to contact your programme director if your programme does not currently allow you to take a UCIL unit.
You can also contact the UCIL office if you have any questions.
How to enrol
UCIL units are designed to be accessible to undergraduate students from all disciplines. Depending on your School enrolment can be completed in one of two ways:
Enrolment using the Course Selection System
You may be able to enrol directly onto a UCIL unit using the Course Unit Enrolment System.
Enrolment via your School
If you cannot see the UCIL unit you wish to study or it is blocked out on the Course Unit Enrolment System you may need to request approval to study the unit directly from your School.
Please get in touch with the UCIL team at ucil@manchester.ac.uk if you have any questions.
Student testimonial
I have always been passionate about leadership, so being able to learn about the nuances of the topic whilst applying it to real life situations allowed me to gain a wealth of knowledge which I will be able to take with me during the rest of my studies and future career prospects.
Anonymous
