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The Ed.D. program at Concordia embeds educational trips within the curriculum to enhance student understanding of how policy, law and culture affect learning organizations. These trips also offer students and faculty the opportunity to build a sense of community and camaraderie within the cohort.

Washington, D.C.

EDD 706: Policy, Law, and Practice in Dynamic Settings

This course integrates an immersive educational travel experience designed to broaden candidates’ understanding of how policy, law, and culture shape leadership and decision making across diverse organizational contexts. During the Washington, D.C. experience, candidates engage directly with government officials and policy leaders to explore how standards, laws, and regulatory bodies influence decisions at the national, state, and organizational levels, and how political processes impact policy development across sectors. The experience invites candidates to connect theory to practice while examining the role of leadership in navigating complex policy environments.

The 2026 Washington, D.C. trip is scheduled for June 13 through June 18, 2026. The 2027 Washington, D.C. trip is scheduled for June 12 through June 17, 2027.

The D.C. trip was beyond amazing! The speakers showed us a different perception of reality. What we thought was real and what is reality was very different. This will allow us to look at our districts and our state in a different light.

LaVonne Riggs

LaVonne Riggs

International Trip

EDD 704: Global Leadership and Communication

During the international travel experience, candidates engage with colleagues, leaders, and community members in the host country to develop a comparative analysis of how organizations, systems, and cultural contexts operate across global settings. Participants examine policies, practices, and leadership approaches within different social and institutional frameworks, identifying insights and strategies that may be thoughtfully adapted to their own professional and organizational contexts.

The EDD 704 course visits different countries in Asia each year, with past destinations including China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Cambodia. This year’s international trip is to Japan and is scheduled for June 19 through June 30, 2026.

The transformational piece came for me when I decided to travel to China...we journeyed to a rural area near Shanghai to help teach migrant children English. I was amazed at how hard the children worked to learn and speak English. As a speech therapist I value communication so highly, and to see them striving and succeeding to communicate in English moved me deeply. My heart was so moved that I have decided to do what I can to bring awareness about the migrant population in China.
Danette Piantanida Bonillo

Danette Piantanida Bonillo Ed.D.'17

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