Integrating Leadership and Foreign Language Literary Studies

This article reports on the integration of leadership studies into upper-level foreign language literature classes in German and Spanish in two undergraduate programs--a military university (USAFA) and a civilian university (UNC Charlotte). Taking into account ACTFL's [American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages] 21st Century Skills Map (2011) that includes the goal of leadership and responsibility, the study describes strategies and texts for leadership integration and recommendations for implementation to broaden the curriculum. Instructors from both institutions noted the usefulness of this approach to support language programs that include leadership as course/program/institutional goals as well as stimulating cross-cultural analysis from their exploratory analysis of student responses in course materials (e.g. journal entries, essays, exam items) and explicit positive student feedback from civilian and military student populations.