Kallion circles
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Kallion Circles
A community to develop leadership through the reflective study of a humanities artifact
Kallion Circles is a community that practices “thinking with” each other through an investigation of humanities artifact(s). Kallion Circles serve people of all different backgrounds and experiences in their leadership development. Everyone in a Kallion Circle contributes to the leadership development of each other through questions, observations, and personal testimonials shared in an intimate discussion group. Circle participants reflect on their own abilities and desires to lead by considering humanities artifacts from a wide range of genres and time periods through new perspectives. Everyone in a Circle appreciates and respects the personhood, ideas, and values of every other participant.
Mission
Kallion Circles promotes leadership development through the creation of diverse communities that learn how to “think with” one another through the study of humanities artifact(s).
Vision
Humanities artifacts – including, but not limited to, art, literature, history, philosophy, film, and architecture – provide leadership growth opportunities for Circles participants, who wish to reflect upon crucial aspects of leadership, such as empathy, mentoring, storytelling, vision-creation, and decision-making. The shared experiences of discussion and composition of leadership sketches instill the value of continual reflection within a life of action for the participants.
Community Goals
Kallion Circles will address Goal Three of Kallion’s Strategic Plan (’21 – ’24): “Prepare to build more communities of humanities study for leadership development outside of higher education.”
Community
Build a Circles community through meaningful discussion and interaction.
diversity
Present unique Circles that reach diverse audiences across professional, academic, cultural, and social backgrounds.
commitment to lead
Offer a wide variety of Circle facilitators and topics.
Community Co-Chairs
Rhonda Knight
Kallion Circles Co-Chair
Rhonda Knight (Binghamton University PhD) is a Kallion Advisor and the James Wayne Lemke Chair in College Service and Leadership and Professor at Coker University in Hartsville, South Carolina. She teaches first-year writing, medieval literature, and early modern literature. As a researcher, she has published articles on a wide variety of subjects from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to Doctor Who and has published an edited collection with Annalisa Castaldo. Rhonda and her colleague, Eric Litton, are also regular contributors to the SAGE Ancient Leadership case series.
Eli Embleton
Kallion Circles Co-Chair
Eli Embleton (BA Classics, MBA Organizational Development) is a Kallion Advisor who designs leadership experiences and conversations for skilled workers and senior-level executives. Eli’s creative credentials include performing in a two-man play with a leading director from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, performing his own poetry accompanied by an internationally-known pianist, and teaching organizational communication with an Aikido master. He was also an award-winning nonprofit CEO supporting the fight against pediatric cancer and recently wrote a lyric sequence, “Pathless,” that uses the power of the humanities to deal with trauma. He and his wife are raising their four children in San Antonio, Texas.