BUSINESS LEADERSHIP And the LIBERAL ARTS A senior research seminar BUS 485 Spring 2022 University of Puget Sound Professor Office Telephone E mail Jeffrey J Matthews Room 111c McIntyre Hall cell 253 777 6607 jmatthews ups edu Office Hours 10 00 11 30 AM Mondays with extra appointments always available Cell Phone Policy All phones are to be completely shut off and stored out of sight before class starts VISIT CALL Course Description This is an advanced research course in leadership that builds upon the foundational courses Principles of Management BUS305 and Paradigms of Leadership BUS385 Its overarching theme is that business leaders should be liberally educated able to comprehend and benefit from the interconnectivity of organizational leadership with the arts and humanities the natural sciences and the social sciences This cross disciplinary course culminates with a substantial research paper and presentation Course Objectives To master an analytical framework for comprehending the art and science of the leadership process To gain a clear understanding of and appreciation for liberal education and its connectivity to leadership To promote a sense of personal and social responsibility for effective leading and following To promote a sense of fallibility and appreciation for divergent perspectives To enhance communication skills listening writing and speaking To enhance independent research skills To provoke and inspire critical creative and independent thinking To promote both independent and collaborative learning An Integrative Course Strategy Writing Assignments in class Minimum five pop quizzes to reward close reading of homework Communication Skill in class High quality discussions on assignments are vital to class success Come to class well prepared well read Regular class attendance is mandatory for success To help demonstrate your thinking about course readings bring to class at least two questions pertaining to the assignments Newspaper periodical journal based print or online reading and thinking is strongly encouraged for a variety of reasons For this course be on the lookout for articles pertaining to leadership generally and more specifically for those pieces that illuminate the principles we are analyzing in our course readings and discussions I encourage you to bring articles to class email them to your classmates so that we can recognize their value One of the many benefits of such regular outside reading is that it can serve as a powerful means for independent learning and actual course related research Research Paper Thesis This course requires a substantive research and analysis paper that advances a focused argument approximately 15 30 pages excluding footnotes and bibliography The thesis must be cross disciplinary in nature directly connecting business leadership principles to a non business academic discipline For example leadership and biology leadership and history leadership and psychology leadership and theater etc Early in the semester you will be required to submit a detailed thesis proposal and outline for approval A complete thesis draft will be due on April 27 The final paper including original thesis proposal and all drafts is due no later than high noon on May 12 Format 12 pt font Times New Roman 1 margins double spaced paginated stapled Select one citation style throughout The library has excellent guides on its webpage For citations style use either MLA or Chicago or APA http research pugetsound edu citation Your thesis including proposal and drafts will be graded on three primary fronts 1 Quality of content as derived from your mastery of course materials and independent research 2 Quality of your independent thought and analysis 3 Quality of your communication skill organization clarity syntax grammar etc Poor organization misspellings faulty topic sentences lack of assertions typos lateness etc are all unwarranted Regardless of your chosen topic you must conduct at least three interviews in the research process and at least three of the people being interviewed must be from off campus For example if you are researching leadership in science you could interview various professors at the University of Washington or regional scientists working for the government or corporations If you are researching military leadership you could for example visit Joint Base Lewis McCord and interview airmen and soldiers I strongly encourage you to search the Puget Sound Alumni Sharing Knowledge Network ASK Network for potential interview candidates I am granting you considerable leeway in terms of thesis themes and topics because a central purpose of this course is to encourage your intellectual self reliance and self motivation DO NOT FEAR CREATIVITY or INDEPENDENCE EMBRACE THEM BOTH Want help with your research And who doesn t I am always available to provide assistance just ask Others want to help too Our library liaison is Andrea Klyn at aklyn ups edu Want help with your writing And who doesn t I am always available to provide assistance just ask Others want to help too Visit the Puget Sound Center for Writing Learning and Teaching located at Howarth Hall 105 The center s webpage is http www pugetsound edu academics academic resources cwlt The university provided a free research writing handbook Sound Writing designed to improve your effectiveness https www pugetsound edu academics academic resources cwlt sound writing resources Want help with your public speaking And who doesn t Visit the Puget Sound Center for Speech and Effective Advocacy https www pugetsound edu academics academic resources center for speech and effective advocacy 2 Thesis Proposal 500 1000 words Provide a succinct and clear statement of your specific research question hypothesis Explain the topic s importance and relevance Explain what types of research materials you envision using for 1 your literature review and 2 your fieldwork interviews surveys etc Be precise as is possible The proposal should also estimate how many paragraphs or word count will be dedicated to the various parts of your thesis Provide a preliminary bibliography and a timeline for the execution of your thesis At a minimum the Final Thesis must include 1 a title an introduction of research questions and arguments and organization 2 a literature review to place your work in the context of other books articles etc 3 a fieldwork interviews survey etc section 4 a conclusion implications section Thesis Presentation A