James Siburt, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor, Strategic Leadership Program Director
Department: Civic Engagement and Leadership
Office: 19 FC
Phone: (610) 647-4400 Ext: 3146
Email: jsiburt@immaculata.edu
Education:
Ph.D. in Leadership, Alvernia University
M.A. in Religion/Theology, Lancaster Theological Seminary
B.S. in Religion and Theological Studies, Lancaster Bible College
BIOGRAPHY:
James E. Siburt, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Sociology of Leadership and Director of the Master of Science in Strategic Leadership at Immaculata University. He has worked in higher education since 2008 as an educator, researcher, curriculum designer, and academic administrator. His research in sociological theory and semiotics examines how narrative and symbolic systems shape the recognition, stabilization, and transformation of relational fields of power, including patterns of legitimacy, coordination, and normative order across leadership, religion, politics, and cultural production. A complementary line of inquiry explores curriculum architecture, intellectual formation, dialogic pedagogy, and the development of scholar-practitioners in higher education. He is the author of Myth, Magic, and Power in Tolkien’s Middle-earth and How Narrative Shapes Culture and Society.
Nominee, Lindback Foundation Distinguished Teaching Award, 2026.
Selected Publications:
Siburt, J. How Narrative Shapes Culture & Society: A Socio-Narratology of Power & Influence. NY, NY: Bloomsbury Academic a Division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2026
Siburt, J. “Developing a Generation of Ethical Leaders.” Immaculata Magazine, Immaculata University, Winter 2024
Siburt, J. Myth, Magic, and Power in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc., 2023
Siburt, J. & Steffy, C. “The Critical Précis: A Foundation For Writing.” Writing the Disciplines, edited by C. Fitzpatrick, Educators for OERs, 2023.
Teaching and Mentoring:
Dr. Siburt teaches leadership as an advanced inquiry into power, meaning, culture, ethics, and change rather than as a collection of managerial techniques. His courses combine live interdisciplinary dialogue, contemporary case analysis, reflective inquiry, and research grounded in students’ own professional fields. He works closely with students as they develop the intellectual frameworks and practical judgment needed to understand complex organizations, lead responsibly, and become scholar-practitioners within their professions.
Learn more about the Master of Science in Strategic Leadership.
Cultivating Leaders: Immaculata University’s Master of Science in Strategic Leadership
Courses Taught:
LDR600 Foundations of Leadership
LDR603 Organizational Ethics
LDR604 Theories of Change
LDR615 Leading Digital Citizens
LDR621 Strategic & Critical Problem Solving
LDR640 Power & Influence
FYS 110 Honors First Year Seminar
HON 401 Research Colloquium
THE 314 Religions in Dialogue
SOC 353 Cultural Anthropology
Research Interests
Sociological theory; semiotics; narrative and symbolic systems; relational fields of power; legitimacy and social coordination; leadership and cultural production; religion, mythology, and folklore; curriculum architecture; intellectual formation; and dialogic pedagogy.