Houston,
17
February
2022
|
10:29 AM
America/Chicago

UST Rolls Out Dynamic Doctoral Tracks “Leading for the Greater Good”

Aligning educational programs with its Catholic mission, the University of St. Thomas-Houston is poised to roll out two innovative Ed.D tracks — Educational Leadership and Strategic Leadership — for its overarching Doctorate in Ethical Leadership Program this summer. The program's thrust is human flourishing, or some call it “the idea of happiness.” UST aims to educate leaders in schools, industry and politics to know how to lead for the greater good.

Dr. Jon Kirwan, who has a background in theology and education, takes the director helm of the revised, ground-breaking Ed.D Program. "The program intends to bring classical wisdom to modern thought and leadership and is now accepting applications at www.stthom.edu/edd,” he said.

These doctoral programs are open to people of all faiths who want to affect change. Both doctoral tracks are offered either in-person or as a live online format.

Doctorate in Educational LeadershipEd.D Track  in Educational Leadership: Shifting Education Back to the Human Person

"UST is going to do something unique with its Ed.Dl track in Educational Leadership,” Kirwan said. "One of the first courses will be one of anthropology—offering a profound vision of the dignity, goodness and worth of the human person. These anthropological issues are the center of the program and are steppingstones to guide future students down the path of self-knowledge as they follow their callings and grow as leaders.”

Following this classical anthropology, the subsequent two courses deal with the history of education. "These are not dry and dusty history courses," Kirwan said. "We offer an engaging and exciting tradition of the educational integration of Greek wisdom and the development of the liberal arts; the development of schools after the Reformation; and we continue through to the American context of education.

"We are mixing the knowledge of tradition, or this fuller anthropology, and blending it with an eye toward vibrant living as the pathway to a happy, deeply fulfilled life. It is this wisdom tradition that meets current intellectual, social or emotional needs. It is a holistic program that educates the human person. Moreover, this approach to classical thought is integrated with the best of recent trends and theory in leadership."  

Ed.D Track  in Strategic Leadership: Leading with a Moral Compass

To run “good life” companies, leaders in industry, non-profits and healthcare can learn from the classical wisdom of ancient philosophers.

"Though many Ed.D programs in leadership are available, there is not a coherent understanding of leadership rooted in this full notion of the human person,” Kirwan said. “You may have heard it called by other names such as 'authentic leadership,' but it returns to what we have known from ancient philosophers. Thomas Aquinas called it 'practical wisdom' with his first principle being 'Good is to be done and pursued, and evil is to be avoided.' The ancient Greeks called it ‘eudaimonia or flourishing,’ and in Latin, ‘prudential or ability to make far-seeing and sound decisions.' It was the idea that you have to be concerned about the good, because there is this moral crisis in management, in industry and politics today.

"UST is part of this return toward self-reflection," Kirwan said. "You have to know yourself, and then be concerned with goodness and justice, even experience doing the right thing as a person and a leader. This program imbues its graduates with knowing how to lead for the greater good.”

Learn More and Apply

Learn more about both innovative tracks or apply at www.stthom.edu/edd.