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Journey to Gettysburg

October 4-8, 2024, Gettysburg, PA

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*Students must have at least 30 credit hours to attend this course.

Trip Highlights

GUIDED BY PURDUE FACULTY, BUSINESS & HISTORICAL EXPERTS
Travel with Professor of Leadership and Academic Director of the Larson Leaders Academy Brad Alge.
VISIT KEY BATTLEFIELD LOCATIONS
Discover how leadership styles contributed to those fateful days as you walk the same paths soldiers
and generals took.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP JOURNEY
Purdue supports students by offering immersion trips that allow for experiential learning.

Fall Break 2024 Immersion Course

The Larsen Leaders Academy is offering an experiential immersion course October 4-8, 2024, that includes a visit to historic Gettysburg, PA. This trip will be led by Dr. Brad Alge, Academic Director of the Larsen Leaders Academy, in partnership with the Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg

Attendees will be assigned pre-readings and will be expected to complete a post-experience writing assignment. Students who satisfactorily complete the experience course and requirements will receive 2 credit hours.

Attendees will have a connection to Purdue University and will likely include Weekend MBA, online, and in-residence master's students, Larsen Leaders Academy undergraduate students, and alumni corporate partners. We anticipate 30-40 attendees.

penn-state-memorial.pngThe Pennsylvania State Memorial commemorates the 34,530 Pennsylvania soldiers who fought in the July 1-3, 1863, Battle of Gettysburg.

"It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - And that the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

-Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address, November 19, 1863

Overview

Embrace this transformational leadership journey that will improve your leadership acumen and be remembered for the rest of your life.

We learn about leadership by studying the great leaders of the past. Imagine studying leadership from the very place where some of the greatest historical leaders exercised their leadership! Visit the hallowed ground where Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg Address. Attend classroom sessions in the David Wills House, the very building where Lincoln stayed the night before the Gettysburg Address and actually completed his speech. Visit Little Round Top and other key battlefield locations, where pivotal leadership by courageous leaders changed the course of this three-day battle in July of 1863. This is part of what you will experience in this course, but this course is not a history lesson nor is it a lesson on military strategy. Rather, this course focuses squarely on leadership, followership and organizational effectiveness.

Leadership. Followership. Organizational Effectiveness.

Guided by a Purdue professor and other business and historical experts, and in partnership with the Lincoln Leadership Institute at Gettysburg, students will learn theories of leadership, apply them to case studies, and develop their skills as a leader through a combination of distance-based and experiential learning. Sessions apply to leading organizations and performing in a rapidly changing, stressful environment, with limited information and limited resources challenges that were present in 1863 and that are ubiquitous in most organizations today.

Cost

The program in Gettysburg is October 4-8, 2024, in Gettysburg, PA. Classes will be held at the Adams County Historical Society in Gettysburg. We will be staying at a local hotel. All participants will enjoy a single room.

Regular Price Weekend MBA, Online MBA, Non-Degree Larsen Leaders Academy Student
Tuition $4,000 $2,500 $0
Transportation Not included, at least $300 Included - bus Included - bus
Hotel Accommodations $150 X 4 = $600 Included Included
Museum and Cyclorama Ticket $18.75 Included Included
Battlefield Tours $38 Included Included
Meals Included: Most meals Included: Most meals Included: Most meals

For Larsen Leaders Academy students, costs are covered by the academy for the first 25 attendees who register. Scholarships or subsidies for graduate students may be available. Check with your program point of contact.

Agenda

Thursday | 9/19

6:30-8 p.m.

Mandatory pre-departure meeting

Class will be held in-person in RAWLS 2058.

 

Wednesday | 9/25

6:30-8 p.m.

Mandatory pre-departure meeting

Class will be held in-person in RAWLS 2058.

 

Friday | 10/04 - Day of Travel

7-7:30 a.m. Arrive and gather at the Purdue Memorial Union lobby
7:30 a.m. - 12 p.m. Depart campus on coach bus, travel east towards Pennsylvania. At around noon, stop for lunch in east Ohio.
12-5 p.m. Continue eastward, with a stop for travelers to buy their own dinner.
7 p.m. We arrive at the Wyndham Gettysburg Hotel and check in. The rest of the evening is on your own.

 

Saturday | 10/05 - Welcome to Gettysburg

8:30-9 a.m. Continental breakfast at the hotel
9 a.m.-12 p.m. So what? Why should we care? - Professor Brad Alge
noon-1 p.m. Lunch
1-2 p.m. Free time to tour Gettysburg Square
2-3:45 p.m. Welcome remarks from Lincoln Leadership Institute, explore the Gettysburg National Military Park Visitor's Center
3:45-6 p.m. Depart Visitor's Center for The National Cemetery
6 p.m.

Welcome Dinner

Our host offers welcoming remarks on leadership. Faculty members are introduced, and they review the historical background surrounding the Battle of Gettysburg, its major leaders and the application of historical metaphor to modern leadership challenges. We will set the stage for the exciting and vivid ways leadership lessons will be brought alive over the next two days.

 

Sunday | 10/06

Breakfast

7:30-8:15 a.m.

 

8:30 a.m.

Arrive at the Adams County Historical Society

Our session begins at the Adams County Historical Society, the home of the Lincoln Leadership Institute.

8:30-9:45 a.m.

The High Ground: Positioning for Strategic Advantage

In this first case study, we will examine the "high ground" of the Battle of Gettysburg. Participants will be asked to explore their own personal "high ground" as well as that of their organization. Anticipatory leadership and positioning for strategic advantage are key elements of this case study.

9:45 a.m. Battlefield Experience I
10:30-11:30 a.m.

Debrief & Discussion

The metaphor of the High Ground will be discussed with time for personal reflection on how to connect and apply this metaphor to your career and organization.

Lunch
12:30-2 p.m.

Chamberlain at Gettysburg: Transactional and Transformational Leadership

We will explore the leadership of Col. Joshua Chamberlain, Commander of the 20th Maine and his mandate to protect the "left flank" of the Union Army. The differences between leadership and management are explored, as is the identification of one's "left flank." Chamberlain serves as the personification of the "ideal" leader, possessing proficiency in the ability to build dedication in unengaged followers and turn them into valuable assets who can be relied upon to protect organizational vulnerabilities.

2 p.m.

Battlefield Experience II

Return to the Adams County Historical Society/ Debrief & Discussion on Little Roundtop

We discuss the metaphor of the Left Flank and help identify organizational vulnerabilities and ways to protect them to ensure future business successes are highlighted.

Courageous Communication: Pickett's Charge

The Battlefield and beautiful countryside of Gettysburg remain the setting for our classroom as we explore the challenges faced during the historic charge led by General George Pickett and explore leader/follower relationships and ways to effectively manage disagreement.

4:30 p.m. Battlefield Experience III
6 p.m. Return to Hotel - Free evening to explore Gettysburg
Dinner on your own
9 p.m. History(Ghost) Tour

 

Monday | 10/07

Breakfast
8:30-10 a.m.

Building Teams with the Military's Most Elite

Retired Rear Admiral Scott Moore had a 30-year career in the Navy SEALs. From first-hand experience leading some of our nation's most strategic missions, Admiral Moore shares his thoughts on how to forge teams that will not fail.
OR
Former Navy SEAL David Cooper discusses the behaviors and actions that are key to successful leadership and how to develop the mindset that leadership is both a skill and a process.

10:15 a.m.-noon

Review of Concepts

Participants have the opportunity to review and apply the leadership concepts covered during their journey to their own personal and professional lives. Working as individuals and in small groups, participants are encouraged to formulate concrete and actionable items within their own leadership practice to address upon returning home.

Lunch
1-3 p.m. Leadership and Emotion - Finding your "Why"
Bayern Wilkinson and Barlow's Knowll & Gettysburg Address
3:30-5 p.m.

Battlefield Experience IV

Final opportunity to reflect on your personal "why" in this dramatic landscape.

Farewell Dinner We celebrate the end of an incredible leadership journey at the historic Dobbins House Restaurant.

 

Tuesday | 10/08

Breakfast
8-9 a.m.

Check out of your hotel room after breakfast and prepare for our final session and departure.

9-11 a.m.

Our final session, Humility, Vulnerability, Trust and Communicating with Impact with Professor Brad Alge

11-11:30 a.m. Final wrap up, and board the bus for the return to Purdue
Estimated arrival time to PMU: 10 p.m.

Action Items to Participate

  • Class callout is August 26, RAWLS 2058 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Class size is limited to 40. A short application will be required. For more information, inquire with the relevant point of contact below
  • For graduate/master's students: Course will be a MGMT 59000 course
  • For undergraduate LLA students: Course # is MGMT 44672 - Transformational Leadership Development Immersion Experience
  • Both courses will have a course description that includes: A Transformational Journey to Gettysburg

 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

*Students must have at least 30 credit hours to attend this course.

Larsen Leaders Academy Students

Steve Shelby
Phone: (765) 494-0351
shelby@purdue.edu

 

Weekend MBA Students

Jerry Janecko
Phone: (765) 494-6097
gjanecko@purdue.edu

Full-time Master's Students

Jen Schukraft
Phone: (765) 496-6121
jmusick@purdue.edu

 

Online Master's Students

Jeff Nagle
Phone: (765) 494-4355
jnagle@purdue.edu