Advances | Doctor of Leadership

Bringing your Doctor of Leadership experience to life

The Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives face-to-face intensives (“Advances”) are central to your learning experience in the program. They occur in the fall semester of each year.

Advance locations stretch your thinking about leadership through on-the-ground engagement within a particular location, and enable you to better lead in your context.

During these intensives, you'll experience a combination of academic seminars, site visits, and dynamic conversations in cities of global influence. Project faculty guide your Project Portfolio research and design sequence at your first two Advances.

Advances focus on engaging a location in light of global realities. They are not cross-cultural studies, missions, or language immersion experiences.

Locations

You will experience Advances in three locations:

2023: Oxford, UK (September 19-26, 2023)
2024: Washington, D.C. (September 24-Oct. 1, 2024)
2025: Cape Town (September 23-30, 2025)

What to Expect

All active cohorts participate in each Advance together.
Advances occur in late September/early October.
Advances last approximately a week.
Fees include onsite lodging, and most meals, and site visit expenses.
You are responsible for all air travel and local transport (taxi, public transport, etc.), visas, and vaccinations.
Activities include extensive walking, utilizing stairs, sitting, note taking, listening and viewing field presentations, navigating unfamiliar crowded spaces, eating local foods, experiencing wide temperature fluctuations, etc.

Guest Policy: Please note that the Advances are "designed experiences" intended to create an intentional learning community. For this reason, guests are not included. Students should plan to be fully present to one another and engaged in the formational experiences the entire Advance.

Though we make every effort to accommodate student needs, please be aware that in international settings we cannot ensure meaningful access for qualified students with physical, dietary, psychological, attentional or learning-based disabilities in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Advances Include

	Doctor of Leadership Advance at Portland Seminary	Traditional Intensives at Other Schools
Location	Cape Town, Oxford, and Washington, D.C.	On campus
Lodging	Comfortable, safe, strategically-located accommodations provided	Students must identify, book, and pay for local lodging in unfamiliar locations
Food	Most meals provided	Students pay for all food expenses
Participants	Lead mentor, project faculty, students, and local special guests. No spouses.	Instructor and students
Learning context(s)	Immersive site visits, project faculty coaching, guest presentations, and shared meals	In-class lecture
Instructional input(s)	Lead mentor, project faculty, peers, and local church, nonprofit, and business leaders	Course instructor and peers