Curriculum

Seminars
Seminars are the cornerstone of the Ag Leadership Program and provide a comprehensive yet diverse high-impact curriculum. The Ag Leadership experience is not solely about California agriculture! The curriculum and travel experiences focus simultaneously on personal improvement skills and on current social, political, science, organizational and economic issues - all of which necessarily converge to impact California agriculture and society.

The two-year Program is designed specifically for busy men and women in agricultural and recognizes the seasonal demands of production agriculture.

The Program consists of a series of 14 seminars held over two years by our participating California universities at various locations as well as a National and an International Travel seminar.
The seminars convene between the months of October and early June. They are generally scheduled to meet either from Wednesday noon through Friday noon or Thursday noon through Saturday noon.
The 10-day National Travel Seminar in March is the capstone to Year One. The 15-day International Travel Seminar conducted in February or March is the capstone to Year Two.
Additional group assignments and individual study are essential to maximize learning from the program.

The Program seminars are held by our four partner universities. Each campus has a specific curriculum objective upon which it focuses:

University of California, Davis - economics, international trade and health.
California State University, Fresno - government, foreign policy and criminology.
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona - sociology, culture, history and religion.
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo - communication skills and personal assessment.

The Program also joint ventures an annual seminar on ethics and public policy with Santa Clara University and the Panetta Institute for Public Policy at California State University, Monterey Bay.

National Travel
The first year curriculum is complemented with a 10-day National Travel Seminar to Washington, D.C. and one other geographic region of the U.S. Meetings with top-level government, business and community leaders provide a valuable extension to the study of state and national issues during the first year of the program.

International Travel
Foreign policy and international trade are introduced in the Program's second year in preparation for the highlight - the International Travel Seminar. During the trip, participants meet in-country with a broad array of leaders as diverse as ambassadors to elementary school teachers, from government ministers and leading corporate executives to health care workers. Global issues and dynamics are explored first hand in detail and include politics, economics, trade, commerce, education, religion and cultural. Since 1990, Ag Leadership classes have visited 5 continents and over 50 countries.