Process Beyond declarative content—the facts, theories, and findings—we will also examine the process of leadership study: how social scien-tists generate theories and do research. We will not only learn things like "Theory Y predicts this will happen" or "Such and such study supported this hypothesis," but also the assumptions that guide the research. Skills I hope you will participate actively in this course, and so develop a number of academic and scholarly skills, including gains in critical thinking, ethical thought, writing and communication, information search and retrieval, technological skills, scientific skills, and study skills. You may also develop lead-ership skills, but this course is not a “how to” course. Content Scholars and sages have long puz-zled over the nature of leadership. Philosophers raised questions about the nature of leadership itself: its rationality, its utility, and its moral implications; political theorists examined such processes as justice, rights, law, and author-ity; historians studied the life course of those individuals who were able to change the outcomes of events both large and small. But in the 1900s these scholars were joined by researchers who took an empirical, social science, ap-proach to leadership. One of the primary aims of this course is to review so of the re-sults of their work, as well as ex-amine the methods they use to extend our understanding of lead-ership. We will consider such questions as: - What is leadership, and how do different societies conceptual-ized leadership? - What is power, and how does “power” differ from “leadership?” - Why do people follow leaders? - Do leaders have distinctive personalities? - How do leaders communicate with, and persuade, others? - Why do leaders emerge within bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and states? - Are women and men equally suited to lead? - Does leadership have genetic and/or evolutionary roots? - How does leadership differ depending on domain? - How do psychological factors shape followers’ perceptions of their leaders? Course Goals Course “Mission” The course is a key component of the overall University of Rich-mond curriculum. Hence, it sus-tains “a collaborative learning and research community that supports the personal development of its members and the creation of new knowledge. A Richmond education prepares students to live lives of purpose, thoughtful inquiry, and responsible leadership in a global and pluralistic society.” As a course in the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, this course strives to educate people “for and about leadership”. The key word in the name is studies. Don Forsyth, Instructor LDST102 Syllabus Fall 2010 Leadership and the Social Sciences Course Description Introduction to the study of leadership through theoretical and empirical explorations of social in-teraction. Readings se-lected from anthropology, economics, political sci-ence, psychology, and soci-ology. Emphasis on advanc-ing the understanding of leadership through an in-creased appreciation of the rich complexities of human behavior. This course may be taken before or after LDST 101. Contents Goals and Mission 1 Topics, Methods, and Text 2 Activities, Exams, Grades... 3 Disability Informa-tion 3 Responsibilities 4 Policies 4 Calendar 4 The grand aim of all science is to cover the greatest number of empirical facts by logical deduction from the smallest number of hypotheses or axioms. Albert EinsteinLDST101 examines the philoso-phy, history, and political side of leadership. LDST102 (this course!) examines leadership from the perspective of the social sciences, so we will be searching through all the social sciences (anthropology, economics, sociology, history, political science, geography, psy-chology, and others) for theory and research pertaining to leader-ship in all its many and varied forms. Examples of topics we’ll be considering follow. - Authority, Obedience, and Leadership - Dark Side of Leaders’ Personali-ties - Do Leaders Make a Difference? - Do People Need Leaders? - Empirical Procedures in Study-ing Leadership - Endorsing Leaders - Ethics of Leadership - Evolutionary Perspectives - Followership - How Effective Are Leaders? - Inequities and Leadership - Influence and Persuasion - Intelligence and Leadership - Leadership across Cultures - Leaders as Skilled Decision Makers - Leadership and Social Domi-nance - Men, Women, and Leadership - Neuropsychology of Leadership - Origins of Leadership in Human Society - Perceiving & Evaluating Leaders - Personality, Situations, and Ex-periences - Power and Leadership - Self-presentational Processes - Shared and Democratic Leader-ship - Social Identity and Leadership - Status and Hierarchy - Strengthening the Relational Side of Leadership - Psychodynamics of Leadership We will supplement these books with specific readings. Only “real” readings will be assigned: if we aren’t going to examine the reading, then I identify the reading as “optional” and you won’t be required to know its content. The readings are original source papers and chapters and selected to give you an “inside look” at how social science is done. You will acquire much of your infor-mation about leadership, both in this class and for the rest of your life, by reading and studying texts. This course uses books, articles, and online sources. The two required books are: Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. New York: Little Brown (978-0-316-01792-3) How to Win Friends and Influence People. New York: Pocket Books (978-0-671-02703-2) Topics Text and Readings Teaching and Learning Methods method, stimulate you to think critically about leadership, and provide you with the opportunity to express your understanding of leadership in your own words. It is essential that you prepare for class by doing reading, reviewing, and analyzing the assigned topic prior to the day class examines the topic. We will also do things beyond the confines of the class, depend-ing on availability. We may, for example, conduct re-search projects to further examine questions raised by readings, as well as attend presentations by experts visit-ing campus. Also, this class uses World Wide Web-based instruction extensively, and I’ll remain in touch with you via email We will use a variety of structured learning experi-ences to achieve course goals, including lecture, discussions,