Earn 1 credit in 1 weekend and explore big questions about leadership, democracy, and impact, while connecting with peers, employers, faculty experts, and alumni who turn their values into action. With flexible online prep and an in-person weekend summit, you will develop skills to lead with purpose and impact.
PUBPOL/HE 2700: Pathways to Purpose
Civic Leadership in Law, Health, Tech, and Business
How can your Cornell education help you lead a life of purpose and impact while on campus and in your future career? How can we engage with complex social, political, and scientific challenges in a way that supports resilient democracies? What knowledge and competencies are essential for future leaders, and how can we communicate effectively across differences to foster collaboration and progress?
Take PUBPOL/HE 2700: Pathways to Purpose this spring!
1 credit. Letter or S/U grades.
Students participating in this course and completing its requirements will also receive a certificate of completion to support their educational and professional development.
Instruction Mode: Hybrid (asynchronous online preparation culminating in an interactive weekend summit)
Course Dates: February 18 – February 28, 2027
Weekend Summit Dates: February 20 – February 21, 2027
Prerequisite: None
Open to: Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors.
Distribution Requirements: CA-HE | SBA-HE | Liberal Studies in the College of Engineering
Instructors:
Adi Grabiner-Keinan, Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Director & Senior Lecturer of the Center for Dialogue & Pluralism
Colleen Barry, Dean of the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, co-Director of the Cornell Health Policy Center
Rachel Dunifon, Dean of the College of Human Ecology, Professor in the Department of Psychology & the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy
Lisa Nishii, Senior Vice Provost for Enrollment Management and Undergraduate Education; Professor, the ILR School; Director, ILR WIDE (Workplace Inclusion and Diversity Education), the ILR School
Rachel Beatty Reidl, Director of the Cornell Center on Global Democracy; Professor, Department of Government and Brooks School of Public Policy
How can your Cornell education help you lead a life of purpose and impact while on campus and in your future career? How can we engage with complex social, political, and scientific challenges in a way that supports resilient democracies? What knowledge and competencies are essential for future leaders, and how can we communicate effectively across differences to foster collaboration and progress?
This one-credit course – held in person over a day and a half with asynchronous preparation beforehand – invites students to reflect on these questions while exploring how their academic journey can serve as a foundation for civic leadership and professional purpose. You will learn alongside students from across Cornell’s colleges and connect with faculty, alumni, and leaders who not only bring a range of professional expertise, but also actively practice civic engagement in their fields. In addition to broad exposure, you’ll choose a focus area – law, health, technology, or business – and examine its role in advancing democratic principles and practices. Through this lens, you’ll engage with varied perspectives, challenges, and solutions, while practicing communication skills and participating in small group dialogues with peers.
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Examine the connections between their college experience, professional pursuits, and broader efforts to strengthen civic discourse and democracy in the world
- Identify the relationships between freedom and responsibility in their individual and communal lives
- Formulate ways to practice discourse across differences and engage in democratic practices in various life contexts
- Recognize their role as advocates for civic engagement within their communities
- Apply skills for communication, connection, and collaboration across differences
- Network with faculty experts, alumni, and employers
- Connect with peers across colleges
- Formulate and refine your own perspective on big questions on leadership, democracy, and impact
- Explore how your academic journey can serve as a foundation for civic leadership and professional purpose
- Develop your leadership competencies
- Develop your AAMC premed competencies
- Receive a certificate of completion to support your educational and professional development
Explore issues in:
Law
We’ll explore questions like:
How do voting laws reflect or restrict democratic participation?
Where is the line between free speech and hate speech in academic (college campuses) and civic spaces?
What immigration policies and practices best serve democracy?
Should voting be mandatory in a democratic society?
Health
We’ll explore questions like:
When and how should public health measures restrict individual choice?
How do different approaches to mental health impact civic participation and/or democracy?
Is public healthcare necessary for a truly democratic society?
Tech
We’ll explore questions like:
Who should regulate artificial intelligence in a democracy, and what risks arise if we don’t?
How should higher education institutions incorporate or limit the use of generative artificial intelligence in classroom settings?
How do social media algorithms shape what people believe and how they engage civically?
Business
We’ll explore questions like:
What role, if any, do private sector businesses have in promoting civic engagement and democracy?
Should businesses publicly take stances on political and social issues?
How do unions and labor protections strengthen or challenge democratic participation?
What should businesses be allowed to profit from?
Contact pathways@cornell.edu with any questions.
Here’s what students have said about the program…
This initiative is a collaboration between the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, the College of Human Ecology, the Cornell Center on Democracy, the Center for Dialogue & Pluralism, and Cornell Career Services.
