POD Leadership Program
POD Leaders are juniors or seniors interested in being academic and social mentors for first-year students. POD Leaders attend course lectures and run a weekly discussion for 15 first-year students in the course.
Fall 2023 Openings
EESC 1720 / ENGL 1733 Crisis in Storytelling in the Age of Climate Change
Fulfills 1 Natural Science and 1 Literature
Taught by Hilary Palevsky, Min Song, and Courtney Humphries
Questions about the course? Reach out to the instructors at: min.song@bc.edu
HIST 1727 / ENGR 1801 Making the Modern World: Design, Ethics & Engineering
Fulfills 1 History II, 1 Natural Science, and 1 Cultural Diversity through EDJ
Taught by Jenna Tonn and Jonathan Krones
Questions about the course? Reach out to the instructors at: tonnj@bc.edu
Spring 2023 Openings
BIOL 1706 / ENVS 1075 Understanding and Protecting Our Ocean in the Wake of Global Change
Fulfills 2 Natural Science Core requirements
Taught by Heather Olins, Vena Offen, and Courtney Humphries
Question about the course? Reach out to the instructors at: olins@bc.edu
PHIL 1723 / THEO 1723 Faith, Ethics, and the Sciences in the 21st Century
Fulfills Philosophy and Theology (Christian Theology) Core requirements
Taught by: Holly Vandewall, Stephen Pope, and Russell Powell
Question about the course? Reach out to the instructors at: powellru@bc.edu
Frequently Asked Questions
A POD Leader is a junior or senior who works with a student partner in Reflection sections of some specific interdisciplinary core courses.
PODs (stands for Purposeful, Ongoing Discussion) are places where near-peer mentors help freshmen and sophomores tackle course material through intellectual conversations and reflections that help students connect content to their daily lives. In this way, PODs help Boston College fulfill its goals of producing "men and women for whom discernment is a habit" (A Pocket Guide to Jesuit Education). Leaders often become important mentors for those in their POD.
Four courses currently use the POD Leadership Program model:
Our Ocean: Understanding & Protecting The Seas in the Wake of Climate Change – BIOL1706/ENVS1075 (a 6 credit Complex Problem core course, fulfills 3 Natural Science core credits, and 3 Social Science core credits)
Citizenship, Immigration & Belonging in the United States: Can Education Save US? – HIST1715/SOCY1713 (a 6 credit Complex Problem core course, fulfills 3 Natural Science core credits, and 3 Social Science core credits)
Global Implications of Climate Change - SOCY1501/EESC1501 (a 6 credit Complex Problem core course, fulfills 3 Natural Science core credits, and 3 Social Science core credits)
Where on Earth: Foundations in Global History, Culture, and Society - INTL 2200 (a 6 credit International Studies Program foundations course, fulfills 3 History II core credits, 3 Social Science core credits, and the cultural diversity core credit)
POD Leaders are willing to serve as academic facilitators and mentors for a small group of students (around 15) enrolled in the course.
POD Leaders want to work with a student co-lead and be part of a group of 10 juniors and seniors who make up the POD Leader cohort.
POD Leaders must attend the regular class lectures. One evening per week each POD Leader (and their co-lead) directs their POD in discussion and/or activities related to the course material.
Students in the POD Leader cohort also meet once per week for their POD Leadership Seminar, which is designed to help POD Leaders be successful with their small group of freshmen or sophomores.
As a POD Leader you will get to be an academic and social mentor for a small group of freshmen or sophomore students. You will receive 3 credits (Pass/Fail) for attending interesting lectures on complex problems of global importance and running small, weekly group meetings to help freshmen engage with the material. You and your co-leader can help younger students have a fantastic academic experience while being intellectually challenged and stimulated by the course material yourself.