Core Courses
Students in the Center's master's degrees programs in Environment and Community, Management, Organizational Psychology, Strategic Communication or Whole Systems Design take a combination of foundational core courses, courses in Reflective Practice and specialization courses.
Core Courses
Systemic Thinking for a Changing World
Develop conceptual frameworks and integrative and analytic skills for understanding complex, dynamic patterns in human and natural systems. Students gain an understanding of the relationships between world views (and mental models) and actions (including thoughts, behaviors, policies, social structures, etc.) with particular attention to the influences of dualism, reductionism and wholism.
Communication Design
Learn and share perspectives and skills for designing, presenting and evaluating effective communication. Students gain the ability to analyze rhetorical contexts including intention, audience and hoped-for outcomes as well as an understanding of the visual dimension of written and oral presentation.
Critical Inquiry and Ways of Knowing
Learn social inquiry by completing and critically reflecting on several small research projects. While learning research methods, students address fundamental questions about the construction of knowledge as the foundation for action and about power as it relates to representation and communication in social change. The focus is on newer methods of qualitative social research.
Global Pluralism
Political, social, environmental, spiritual and economic forces interact to create a dynamic global system. Information technology and transportation technology enable personal contact among people of different cultures, different political ideologies and different world views. Gain perspective of self in a global context and explore key forces that impact the world community.
Ecological Sustainability
Examine a range of key issues facing both the Pacific Northwest and the world as means of characterizing local through global sustainability performance and opportunities. Social/natural science and philosophical perspectives are used to explore historical contexts, tools, techniques and integrative designs.
Transformative Leadership and Change
Leadership is a process of influence, a dynamic process of interaction among individuals in relationship to achieve a result. Systemic in nature, leadership requires an increased awareness and ability to reflect critically on assumptions. Students gain a nuanced understanding of the dimensions of power, social organization and cultural diversity as applied to leadership opportunities and challenges.
Reflective Practice Courses
Reflective Practicum 1: Simulation and Case Study
Leading creative change requires thinking and reflecting in action. Reflective practice is about learning from action and for action. Over three consecutive quarters, students learn how others have led and been involved in successful creative change. With emphasis on collaboration for social change, students improve their ability to learn from their own and others' experiences.
Reflective Practicum 2: Capstone Change Project
Increase capacity to integrate theory, practice and reflection in a collaborative learning community. Across three consecutive quarters, students develop an approach to practice that incorporates core coursework as well as degree-specific theories and concepts and their own previous experience. Collaboration, design and social change come together in a capstone change project.
Specialization Courses
Students in the Center's master’s degree programs also are required to take a series of specialization courses. These courses provide students with an in-depth knowledge relevant to their chosen degree subject.
For information on required specialization courses for each degree program, please visit:
Students may do a thesis as part of their graduate degree at the Center for Creative Change.
