F1HH 5150 - Leadership and Crisis Management in Humanitarian Context

In the face of escalating global crises, humanitarian leaders must navigate complex operational landscapes with insight. This course equips students with tools essential for leading in humanitarian contexts. Through six modules—covering strategic management; team dynamics; risk assessment; access management; disaster response; and change management—students will explore real-world cases from Syria, Israel/Palestine, Ukraine/Russia, Sudan, Myanmar and Colombia. By engaging in interactive group work, critical incident drills, and expert-led sessions, students will deepen their understanding of managing challenges in today's most important humanitarian crises. Emphasizing both leadership theory and practical application, this course prepares students for future roles in humanitarian action.

Learning Outcomes:

• Students will understand the challenges and dilemmas facing humanitarian managers, and different ways organizations use to tackle them on the ground.
• Through engagement with case studies, students will develop analytical skills to identify key humanitarian challenges and pathways to resolving them.
• Through discussion and course readings, interviews with humanitarian managers, podcasts and other learning methodologies, the students will strengthen their ability to synthesize complex information as well as enhance their communication skills in articulating insights related to humanitarian dilemmas.

Professional Skills:

At the end of the course, the students will be capable of:

• Enhancing the ability to make decisions in high-pressure humanitarian situations, balancing ethical considerations with operational needs.
• Gaining insight in identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks, and applying these skills to safeguard resources and personnel.
• Strengthening skills in team dynamics, including fostering collaboration, psychological safety, and resilience for group performance in challenging conditions.
• Developing understanding of organizational change, such as integrating locally led initiatives and leveraging emerging technologies.

There are no prerequisites. To prepare, students could make themselves familiar with current humanitarian crises and frameworks from the perspective of international organizations, as well as national authorities and local organizations..

Interactive lectures (questions and discussions by students are encouraged). A specific time after the session will be organized to give feedback on the students' work.

To complete and validate this course, students are expected to successfully complete the following components:

• Presence and participation during the semester 10%
• Participation in group work through two (2) interactive case studies: 30% (15% each)
• Essay (2,000 words) on a chosen topic related to the course subject matter 60%

Group assignments:

Two case-study based group assignments will be organized during the semester. The group assignments are available on Moodle under each module description but will also be shared on email for ease of reference.

The two group assignments will be submitted in different formats. One group assignment will be presented live in class, and this will also give the rest of the class an opportunity to practice constructive feedback. The other group assignment will be recorded by the group and submitted online as a video recording.

The deadlines for the group assignments are 8th October (tbc) and 26th November (tbc)

Essay

The essay assignment of 2,000 words will be posted after the lecture session on 6 November (tbc) and will be due at the end of the semester 18 December (tbc). Full instructions, including the submission link, will be made available on Moodle at that time.

• In Class Presence: 24 hours a semester
• Reading and Preparation for Class: 60 hours a semester
• Research and Preparation for Group Work: 30 hours a semester
• Research and Writing for Individual Assessments: 30 hours a semester