Advanced Studies Certificate Program in Creativity, Leadership and Social Change
A certificate program addressing the creative renewal and fulfillment of professionals in every field and sector of organizational life.
The Advanced Studies Certificate in Creativity, Leadership and Social Change offers studies to professionals who want to more fully realize their personal creative potential and learn how to lead others in more imaginative ways. Required courses examine the theory and practice of creative leadership and its integration with personal experience within a social context. Program participants will be free to select courses from throughout the university, design individualized programs of study, establish relationships with Lesley's diverse faculty, and gain a deeper personal understanding of creative and social transformation processes. The program is based upon the belief that direct personal experience with the creative process enables leaders to more effectively foster the creative expression of individuals, communities, and society.
| PROGRAM OF STUDY | CREDITS | |
| Required Courses | 6 | |
| GCREA 6050 | Creativity and Leadership | |
| GCREA 8000 | Praxis in Creativity, Leadership and Social Change | 3 |
| Elective Courses | 9 | |
| Electives may be chosen from the diverse offerings of the university, in consultation with a faculty advisor. | ||
| Elective options include: | ||
| GEXTH 8007 | Theory and Practice of Creative Imagination | 3 |
| OR | ||
| GCREA 8007 | Theory and Practice of Creative Imagination | 3 |
| GCREA 6050 | Creativity and Leadership | 3 |
| GCREA 6051 | Creative Conflict Transformation | 3 |
| GCREA 6052 | Spiritual Dimensions of Leadership | 3 |
| GEXTH 5036 | Imaginal Psychology | 3 |
| GEXTH 5038 | Spirituality: Integrating Factor in Mental and Physical Health | 3 |
| GEXTH 5045 | Arts and Healing | 3 |
| GEXTH 5103 | Theory and Practice of Group Work | 3 |
| GEXTH 8005 | Supervision in Expressive Therapy | 3 |
| GEXTH 6032 | Human Development Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| GEXTH 8006 | Arts-Based Research | 3 |
| GEXTH 6019 | Storytelling and Healing | 3 |
| GEXTH 6031 | Expressive Therapies and Social Action | 3 |
| GEXTH 6105 | Examining Power, Privilege and Oppression in Clinical Practice | 3 |
| GEXTH 6368 | Art Therapy with Traumatized Adults | 3 |
| TOTAL CREDITS | 15 | |
Core Faculty/Coordinators
Shaun McNiff, PhD
Professor
Shaun McNiff is the University Professor at Lesley University where he has established a new program in Advanced Graduate Studies in Creativity, Imagination, and Leadership. An internationally recognized figure in the area of creativity development, Dr. McNiff is the author of many acclaimed books, including Trust the Process: An Artist's Guide to Letting Go; Art as Medicine, Art-Based Research; and the recently released Creating with Others: The Practice of Imagination in Life, Art and the Workplace. The founder of Lesley's arts in therapy and education programs in the early 1970's, he has served in various senior-level leadership positions in which he continues to explore the integration of creativity in all forms of group and community life.
Vivien Marcow Speiser, PhD
Professor, Dean, Division Director of National, International and Collaborative Programs
Vivien Marcow Speiser has directed and taught in programs across the United States and internationally and has used the arts as a way of communicating across borders and across cultures. She believes in the power of the arts to create the conditions for personal and social change and transformation. Her interests and expertise lie in the area of cross-cultural conflict resolution though the arts and she has worked extensively with groups in the Middle East and in South Africa. In addition, she is an expert in the creation and performance of rites of passage rituals and in the use of dance and performance in expressive therapy practice.
Mitchell Kossak, PhD, LMHC, REAT
Assistant Professor, Division Director of Expressive Therapies
Mitchell Kossak is the division director for Expressive therapies and has been the international coordinator for the Expressive Therapies program in Israel since 1999. He has worked as an expressive arts therapist for the past 28 years and has been a licensed clinical counselor since 1994. He has presented his work and research on attunement and embodied transcendent experience at conferences nationally and internationally. His clinical work combines expressive arts therapies with body centered approaches with a variety of populations addressing issues such as chronic pain, recovery from trauma, depression, anxiety, life transitions and relationships. In addition, he has worked extensively with autistic children and adults. He is the associate editor of The Journal of Applied Arts and Health. He is also a professional jazz musician, performing for the past 30 years in the Boston area.
Contact Information
For further information, please contact Laura Gerhard, Coordinator of International and Collaborative Programs, at 617.349.8434 or lgerhard@lesley.edu.
