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NORS 486
NORS/PS 205
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Syllabus for NORS 486
Senior Seminar in Leadership and Civic Engagement
Course Description: This seminar is the capstone course for the Minor in Leadership and Civic Engagement. We will revisit themes initially explored in the introductory seminar to the Minor, but the course emphasizes experiential learning. It places students who have examined principles of leadership and citizenship in the American tradition and who have explored the psychology of leadership in internship positions in government and other agencies where they will apply these principles and gain practical experience in leadership and civic participation. Thus, it will operate essentially as a launching pad for students who aim to be active and efficacious citizens.
Learning Objectives:
To acquire skills in advocacy and public problem solving
To develop an appreciation for social and civic responsibility
To acquire skills in conflict resolution
To provide students with an opportunity to work on real public problems
To explore and practice the basic skills of leadership
To assess and strengthen self-awareness and personal skills related to citizenship and leadership
Requirements:
Class Participation: Students will be expected to attend class, which will meet every second week for 2 hours, having come prepared to discuss the required readings and their internship experiences.
Class Participation = 10 %
Internships/Experiential Learning: Students will work an average of six (6) hours per week (for a total of 90 hours during the semester) at agencies to which they are assigned.
Examples of agencies are:
* The Governor’s Office
* The Borough or City Mayor’s Office
* Tanana Chiefs Conference
* Doyon Ltd.
* Women in Crisis Counseling
* United Way
* The Fairbanks North Star Borough School District
* Big Brothers Big Sisters
* The Legislative Information Office
* Offices of the Interior Legislative Delegation
* Offices of Alaska’s Congressional Delegation
* The Natural Resources Department
* Fairbanks Veterans Center
* Carol Brice Family Center
Hospice of the Tanana ValleyAssessment of students’ performance in the internship will be based on fulfillment of the service requirement (having performed 90 hours -- 20%), the completion of a research project which relates to the function of and makes a contribution to the agency (20%), and evaluation of the student’s performance by the agency supervisor (10%).
Internship (20 + 20 + 10) = 50%
Journaling: Students will keep journals to document and reflect upon the experiential learning component of the course. Journals will be submitted during each class session and will be assessed based on the quantity (approximately 3 pages per week) of the writing and the intellectual quality of the reflections and responses to specific questions the instructor will pose.
Journaling = 20%
Final Student Paper: Students will submit a final paper on the internship experience, applying the principles learned in class. The instructor will provide a framework for analysis. The final product should be 8 - 10 pages typed, double-spaced.
Final Paper = 20%
Note on the readings: The readings will be available to students on Electronic Reserves at the UAF Rasmuson Library.
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Lessons
Class #1 – Topic: Introductory overview of course and requirements
Students will be provided with a list of available agencies which welcome interns, and they will complete a questionnaire, including their first, second, and third choices for placement.
The instructor will make the placements, and students will be notified within one week.
Students will have had their initial meetings with their agency supervisors and will have established a schedule before the next class meeting.
Questions for students’ journal entry:
With what agency will you be interning, and what is the mission of this agency?
What clientele does your agency serve?
In what ways was your initial meeting positive or negative?
What do you hope to learn from this experience?
Class #2 – Topic: Social Capital
What is social capital and what benefits of social capital have students recognized at the agencies where they are interning?
Questions for students’ journal entry:
Would you say that the people who work at your agency have social capital?
Do the think the clientele and or the people who interact with you agency have generally high or low levels of social capital?
How would these people’s interaction with the agency be different if they had more or less social capital?
Readings:
- Putnam, Robert. "Political Participation" and "Civic Participation." Chapters 2 and 3 in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
- Almond, Gabriel and Sidney Verba. The Civic Culture. Short selections.
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Class #3 – Topic: Federalism
What are the theoretical and practical benefits and drawbacks of federalism?
How do agencies interact with other agencies and offices at the same and at other levels of gov’t?
Questions for students’ journal entries:
How is your agency funded?
What directives come with the funding?
If is it a government agency, what level of government?
To whom is the agency responsible?
Readings:
- Madison, James. Federalist Papers 39 and 45
- McDonald, Forrest and Ellen Shapiro McDonald. "Federalism in America: An Obituary."
- Storing, Herbert. "What the Antifederalists Were For"
Class #4 – Topic: Visions of the Good Society
How do the students’ agencies’ missions and operational styles reflect their visions of the Good Society?
Questions for students’ journal entries:
Does your agency have recognizably conservative or liberal assumptions?
What evidence do you see of assumptions of how government and society ought to operate?
Do see these assumptions as helping or hampering the goals of the agency?
Readings:
- Sowell, Thomas. "Visions of Power" and "Visions of Justice." Chapters in A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. New York: Basic Books, 2002
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Class #5 – Topic: Decision Making Processes in Government and other Organizations
What types of decisions are made by this agency?
What processes are used to come to decisions? Does Dahl’s Pluralism theory apply?
Questions for students’ journals:
Who has input in the decision making process at your agency?
Who do these decisions impact?
Do you feel the process is fair?
Readings:
- Smith, Hedrick. "Old-Breed and New-Breed Lobbying"
- Wilson, James Q. "Interests and Deliberation, or Why Madison Would Not Have Received the James Madison Award."
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Class #6 – Topic: Civility and Art of Persuasion
How could the working atmosphere at the agency be described?
How could the agency’s and its employees’ demeanor toward others (clients, agencies it is trying to influence) be described?
Questions for student journals:
Do you find your agency’s (and its personnel’s) methods of persuasion civil or confrontational with others?
How are your contributions received?
Are you able to interact civilly with your supervisor, coworkers, and the public when you disagree?
What methods do you use to maintain civility?
Readings:
- Fisher, Roger. Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In. New York: Penguin ,1991. (excerpt)
Class #7 – Topic: Leadership and How it is Exercised
Who are those in formal leadership roles at students’ agencies?
Who are the informal leaders? How did they acquire these roles?
Questions for students’ journals:
How do those in leadership roles exercise their authority?
Do they do so successfully? How so or why not?
Readings:
- Tocqueville, Alexis. "What Sort of Despotism Democratic Nations have to Fear." Chapter in Democracy in America. New York: Harper Perennial, 1969.
- Machiavelli, Niccolo. The Prince. Selections
- Weber, Max. "Characteristics of Bureaucracy," Technical Advantages of Bureaucratic Organization," and "The Power Position of Bureaucracy." (These are excerpts from his classic analysis of bureaucracy.)
Assignment Due: Agency Project
Class #8 – Topic: American Ideals and The Ideal of America
To what extent does the agency and its work exemplify American ideals, American political culture, and/or shortcomings of America’s model of democracy?
Questions for students’ journals:
Does your agency promote egalitarian or elitist ends? How so?
Does your agency exemplify individualistic or communitarian goals?
Does your agency exemplify voluntarism and philanthropy or services provided by the government?
What is the impact of your agency’s work – on those who work there and on the public? Think especially of how the work of your agency affects people’s assumptions and attitudes about American society.
Readings:
- Wright, Esmond. "What then is the American, this new man?" Chapter in Fabric of Freedom 1763-1800. New York: Hill and Wang, 1991 (1961). (excerpt)
- Putnam, Robert. "Altruism, Volunteering, and Philanthropy," "Reciprocity, Honesty, and Trust," and "The Dark Side of Social Capital." Chapters 7, 8, and 22 in Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
Assignment Due: Final Paper
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