Engineering Leadership Development Minor Courses

The ELD Minor is an 18-credit minor structured to allow customization based on student career goals and interests. Students interested in the ELD minor should work closely with their academic adviser within their degree program to determine which courses will count toward engineering electives or professional electives.

The list on this webpage showcases the required courses to complete the minor. Minor courses may not automatically fulfill minor requirements on your degree audit and will need to be corrected by the program. If you are getting close to graduation and would like to confirm that you have fulfilled all requirements, please email engrleadership@engr.psu.edu.

Required Courses

ENGR 407: Technology-Based Entrepreneurship

3 credits (fall and spring)

Students learn about business and entrepreneurship through risk-taking, creativity, and innovation. This course helps students recognize their own ability to lead a team and move a product from idea to market through many challenging and exciting projects. The course is designed to increase students' team-working abilities, as well as leadership competencies.

ENGR 408: Leadership Principles

3 credits (fall, spring, and online in fall, spring, and summer)

Students learn about leadership concepts, principles, and theories through discussions, projects, and readings. Enrollment in this course allows you to enroll in the ELD minor in LionPath, which will grant you eligibility to take our remaining courses. Online sections of ENGR 408 are designed to support students at Penn State's campuses who would like to complete the minor.

Choose six credits:

ENGR 405: Project Management for Professionals

3 credits (online in fall, spring, and summer)

This course covers the essential concepts and skills needed to make effective contributions to projects, on time and within budget.

ENGR 409: Leadership in Organizations

3 credits (fall and spring, online in summer)

This "mini MBA" course includes the analysis of exemplary organizations. This course offers students the unique opportunity to travel domestically to some of these organizations to learn first-hand what it means to be an engineering leader. Spring ENGR 409 offerings include a domestic travel component.

ENGR 422 course — International Leadership of Virtual Engineering Teams

3 credits (spring ONLY)

This course focuses on leading international virtual cross-cultural, interdisciplinary teams in developing engineering solutions relevant to today’s global economy. Students will have opportunities to work with students from other countries on a semester-long project. This course is only offered in the spring semester, and students are offered the option of traveling to visit their international partner team during Spring Break (South Africa) or Maymester (Switzerland).

ENGR 497: Ethics and Equity

(3 credits offered spring only)

The course will examine the role of the engineer in the development of the technological society. It will cover an introduction to major ethical theories including utilitarianism, duty ethics, virtue ethics and care ethics. The second part of the course will examine the overlap between engineering, equity, and leadership. Finally, students will individually explore an idea or concept of interest that is related to the coursework and lead the class in a discussion of their research.

Elective Courses

6 credits

Supporting elective courses are intended to complement the leadership curriculum and broaden your horizons. Most ELD minor elective courses are GA, GH, and GS, so with proper planning, you can incorporate the six elective credits for the ELD minor into your degree plan without any added class time. Below is a list of accepted elective courses that may fulfill requirements for both the minor and the University’s general education requirements. If you would like to learn how to incorporate the ELD minor into your schedule, email engrleadership@engr.psu.edu.

The list of approved electives is regularly reviewed and updated to include additional courses. If you would like to petition a course to be considered towards the ELD minor requirements, please email engrleadership@engr.psu.edu with the course title, short description, and why it contributes to your leadership development. A faculty in the program will get back to you for the next steps.

International Cultures

One to three credits of approved study or work abroad, of at least six weeks duration, consisting of course work, internship, research, etc. To document study or work abroad, the credits earned can be Penn State credits associated with one of the formal study abroad programs, credits for course work or research conducted at a foreign institution and transferred into Penn State, or credits for ENGR 195I, 295I, 395I or 495I taken during an international internship or cooperative education assignment. Courses to be taken while studying abroad should be chosen in consultation with the student's academic adviser (particularly those intended to meet degree requirements) and the director of the minor.

Arts (GA) Classes

A&A 100: Introduction to International Arts
AA 121: Design Thinking and Creativity
AED 225: Diversity, Pedogogy, and Visual Cultures
ARTH 100: Introduction to Art
ARTH 140: Introduction to the Art and Architecture of the Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas
ARTH 299: The Iberian Peninsula: Cultures and Religions Through the Arts
ARTH 311: Greek and Roman Art
ARTH 330: Islamic Architecture and Art
ARTH 335: African Art
ASIA 215/ARTH 215: Architecture and Art of South and Southeast Asia
INART 126: The Popular Arts in America: The History of Hip-Hop
INART 210: Integrative Approaches to Computer-Aided Music Composition
INART 258A: Fundamentals of Digital Audio
SOC 208N: Visual Representation of the Middle East in the US and Middle East (also a GS)
THEA 207: Gender and Theatre
THEA 208S: Workshop: Theatre in Diverse Cultures
WMNST 106N: Representing Women and Gender in Literature, Art and Popular Cultures
WMNST 175N: Fashion, Gender, and Identity (also GH)
WMNST 207N: LGBTQ+ Identity, Culture and The Arts (also GS)

Natural Sciences (GN) Classes

AFR 105: Environments of Africa: Geology and Climate Change

Humanities (GH) Classes

AAS 100: Introduction to Asian American Studies
AFAM 101/WMNST 101/WMNST 101H: The African American Woman
AFAM 102: Women of Color; Cross-Cultural Perspective
AFAM 110: Introduction to African American Studies
AFAM 152: African American History
AFAM 146: The Life and Thought of Martin Luther King, Jr.
AFAM 147: The Life and Thought of Malcolm X
AFAM 210: Freedom's First Generation: African American Life and Work, 1865 to World War II
AFAM 211: Slavery and Freedom in the Black Atlantic
AFR 150: Africa in Cinema
AFR 191/HIST 191: Early African History
AFR 192: Modern African History
AFR 202N: Women, Gender, and Feminisms in Africa (also GS)
AG 160: Introduction into Ethics and Issues in Agriculture
AMST 104: Women and the American Experience
ASIA 106N: Asian Traditions of Health, Medicine, and the Body
ASIA 172: Introduction to Japanese Civilization
ASIA 176: Survey of Indian History
ASIA 181/RLST 181: Introduction to the Religions of China and Japan
ASIA 182/HIST 182: Asian Trade: Economy, Industrialization and Capitalism in Asia
ASIA 183: Gender, Family, and Society in East Asia
ASTRO 19N: Being in the Universe
CAMS 100: Ancient Greece
CAMS 101: The Roman Republic and Empire
CAMS 180: Ancient Warfare
CAS 175: Persuasion and Propaganda
CIVCM 211N: Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement
CMLIT 101: Race, Gender, and Identity in World Literature
CMLIT 142: Psychology of World Literature
ENGL 184: The Short Story
GER 143: The Culture of Stalinism and Nazism
GLIS 102N: Global Pathways
HIST 011: World History II
HIST 101: The Roman Republic and Empire
HIST 108: The Crusades: Holy War in the Middle Ages
HIST 109: Introduction to U.S. Environmental History
HIST 117: Women in Modern History
HIST 123: History of Science II
HIST 144: The World at War: 1939-1945
HIST 154: History of Welfare and Poverty
HIST 155: American Business History
HIST 173: Vietnam in War and Peace
HIST 175: The History of Modern East Asia
HIST 179: Latin-American History Since 1820
HIST 181: Introduction to the Middle East
HIST 192: Modern African History
HIST 199: Spain and the Americas
HIST 211: The Emergence and Evolution of the Black Diaspora in the Atlantic World
IT 130: Italian Culture and Civilization
LTNST 100: Introduction to Latina/s Studies
LTNST 226: Latina and Latino Border Theories
LTNST 300/WMNST 300: Latinx Gender and Sexuality Studies
PHIL 9: Race, Racism, and Diversity
PHIL 114: Feminist Philosophy
PHIL 123: Media Ethics
PHIL 103: Introduction to Ethics
PHIL 103W: Introduction to Ethics
PHIL 105: Introduction to Philosophy of Law and Legal Ethics
PHIL 106: Introduction to Business Ethics
PHIL 109: Introduction to Aesthetics
PHIL 110: Introduction to Philosophy of Science
PHIL 118: Introduction to Environmental Philosophy
PHIL 119: Ethical Leadership
PHIL 132: Introduction to Bioethics
PHIL 233: Ethics and the Design of Technology
RLST 103: Introduction to Hinduism
RLST 104: Introduction to Buddhism
RLST 107: Introduction to Islam
RLST 164: Muhammad and the Qur'an
SOC 162N: Communicating Care (also GS)
SPAN 100: Intermediate Grammar and Composition
SPAN 130: Iberian Civilization
SPAN 131: Ibero-American Civilization
STS 233: Ethics and the Design of Technology
WMNST 8/PHIL 8: Gender Matters
WMNST 104: Women and the American Experience
WMNST 106N: Representing Women and Gender in Literature, Art and Popular Cultures
WMNST 117: Women in United States History/WMNST 117H: Women in Modern History
WMNST 175N: Fashion, Gender, and Identity (also GA)
WMNST 227: Introduction to Queer Theory
WMNST 245: Introduction to LGBTQ Studies
WMNST 301N: Sexualities, Gender and Power: Feminist Thought and Politics (also a GS)

Social and Behavioral Sciences (GS) Classes

AFAM 100: Living While Black: Themes in African American Thought and Experience
AFAM 136, AFAM 136W, WMNST 136, WMNST 136W: Race, Gender, and Employment
AFAM 303/ANTH 303/WMNST 303: Race and Gender in the Americas: Latin American and Caribbean Cultures
AFR 110: Introduction to Contemporary Africa
AFR 202N: Women, Gender, and Feminisms in Africa (also GH)
AGBM 101: Economic Principles of Agribusiness Decision Making
ANTH 285: Culture Contact
CAS 203: Interpersonal Communication
CI 185: Principles of Social Justice in Education
CIVCM 211N: Foundations: Civic and Community Engagement
COMM 100: The Mass Media and Society
COMM 150N: The Art of Cinema
CRIMJ 100: Introduction to Criminal Justice
ECON 102: Introductory Microeconomic Analysis and Policy
ECON 104: Introductory Macroeconomic Analysis and Policy
ECON 302: Intermediate Microeconomic Analysis
ECON 304: Intermediate Macroeconomic Analysis
ECON 315: Labor Economics
ECON 323: Public Finance
ECON 333: International Economics
ECON 342: Industrial Organization
EGEE 120: Oil: International Evolution
EBF 200: Introduction to Energy and Earth Sciences Economics
GEOG 20: Human Geography: An Introduction
GEOG 123: Geography of Developing World
GEOG 124: Elements of Cultural Geography
GEOG 160: Mapping Our Changing World
GLIS 102N: Global Pathways
HIST 151: Technology and Society in American History
INTAG 100: Introduction to International Agriculture
INTST 100: Introduction to International Studies
INTST 100S: Introduction to International Studies
IST 110: Information, People and Technology
LDT 100: World Technologies and Learning
LER 201: Employment Relationship: Law and Policy
PLSC 123: Ethnic and Racial Politics
PLSC 132: The Politics of International Intolerance
PLSC 135: The Politics of Ecological Crisis
PSYCH 100: Introductory Psychology
PSYCH 221: Introduction to Social Psychology
PSYCH 232: Cross-Cultural Psychology
PSYCH 261: Introduction to Psychology of Learning
PSYCH 281: Introduction to Industrial-Organizational Psychology
RHS 100: Disability Culture
SOC 119: Race and Ethnic Relations
SOC 162N: Communicating Care (also GH)
SOC 208N: Visual Representations of the Middle East in the US and Middle East (also GA)
STS 151: Technology and Society in American History
WMNST 100, WMNST 100U: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
WMNST 110, SOC 110: Sociology of Gender
WMNST 205: Gender, Diversity and the Media
WMNST 207N: LGBTQ+ Identity, Culture and The Arts (also GA)
HIED 302: The Role of the Resident Assistant: Theory and Practice