Course Description
Consideration of significant and current topics in industrial-organizational psychology as determined by the interests and research activities of the faculty.
Athena Title
SEM IND-ORG PSY
Semester Course Offered
Not offered on a regular basis.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
The purpose of this course is to give students the opportunity to enhance their understanding of organizational leadership theories, concepts, contexts, and competencies, as well as to move them to put their understanding into practice, through engagement with and reflection upon literary texts. Moreover, through such engagement and reflection, and through the creation of their own literary texts, students should gain further understanding of "the moral responsibilities of leadership" and become better "prepared to exercise leadership in service to society", particularly since several of the cases focus specifically upon moral responsibility and upon service to others. Also, the course is intended to help students learn to use their imagination to interpret people and situations from multiple perspectives, to envision multiple possibilities for a given situation, to move beyond literal thinking to metaphorical thinking, and to synthesize ideas into meaningful concepts or even theories. In that sense, the course is as much about inquiry and methodology for an understanding of leadership -- albeit not directly so -- as it is about the content and practice of leadership.
Topical Outline
Students in this course will read literary cases which have been carefully selected by faculty and by other scholars as especially pertinent to leadership. In addition, they will be expected to discuss these cases in class and to relate them to what they have learned in other University of Georgia courses or in personal leadership experiences, as well as to write short reaction papers, and one personal literary text in which they can be as inventive and imaginative as they like. The cases selected represent a wide spectrum of leadership themes and examples, and they encompass thousands of years of literary history, both fiction and non-fiction, and several literary genres -- e.g., letter, novel, drama, poetry, autobiography. Moreover, they focus on both men and women organizations, political systems, social movements, and community organizations. They also include perspectives that are directly relevant to leadership theories (charisma, transformational theory, situational leadership, servant leadership, "post-industrial" leadership), to critical thinking, to ethics, and to leading groups. In short, they provide a way of surveying the broad spectrum that is organizational leadership. The course is broadly organized around the four "integrative themes": 1. Communication 2. Critical Thinking 3. Values and Imagination 4. Social and Individual Differences
Syllabus
Public CV