Syllabus
Border Crossing: Leadership, Value Conflicts and Public Life
PPS 196.30, Spring 2008
Duke University
Tuesday/Thursday 10:05-11:20
03 Sanford Institute Building
Discussion section: Wednesday 11:55-12:45
151 Rubenstein
Instructor: Steve Schewel
sschewel@aol.com
286-0111
Office: 149 Sanford Institute Building
Office hours: by appointment
Blackboard web site:
http://courses.duke.edu
This is the preparation course for students who plan to conduct community-based research projects in the summer through the Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL) Program or another research service learning opportunity. Students will be trained in basic research methods, complete a 20-hour service project for a local community organization, and begin an introduction to a leadership framework for undertaking complex problem solving work in the public arena. The course is designed to provide students with theoretical knowledge and critical reflection skills for entering other cultures to conduct research with community organizations.
It is inevitable that you will encounter value conflicts when you enter a new culture, and some of the most important work of this course will be our mutual reflection on the meaning, uses and misuses of these conflicts. We will approach this work through our theme this semester: religion and public life. We will explore the history of how religion, politics and public policy issues have become intertwined in the U.S. and abroad and investigate contemporary issues that represent a spectrum of viewpoints on faith and politics in our culture. The heart of the course will be readings and case studies that illuminate the complexities of religious values that can become either impediments to public problem solving work or resources for its successful completion.
We will study and compare religious and political groups--in the U.S. , Europe, and the Middle East --with conflicting views about the role of religious faith in public life. This study will provide an avenue for grappling with the complexities of public problem-solving work. The entire course is an exploration of leadership as the art of working productively with difficult value conflicts in groups, institutions, and social systems. Through the lens of religion and politics, we will address questions of leadership, politics, and public policy.
We are fortunate that during this semester the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries and caucuses are taking place across the nation. Religious issues and the religious affiliations and positions of candidates in both parties are critical to both races. So we'll start our course by studying the role that religion is playing in the presidential race right now—just after the conclusion of the New Hampshire primary—and we'll follow these issues and candidates throughout the semester.
The course includes a research methods component in the final weeks of the semester. “Border Crossing” is a research service-learning (RSL) Gateway course. In the final portion of the semester, you will be trained in basic community–based research methods to help you prepare for summer field work as part of the Service Opportunities in Leadership (SOL) program or another community-based research opportunity during the summer. You will also receive instruction about the Duke Institutional Review Board protocol application process for human subjects research.
What are the highest goals of this class? Informed by scholarship and the ideas of your classmates, you will arm yourself emotionally and intellectually to enter a new culture prepared to serve and to reflect critically on your experience there. You will think deeply about how to approach the inevitable value conflicts you will face as you cross the borders of new institutions and cultures. You will examine your own religious and cultural values and preconceptions. You will explore how you can, over time, become a fully engaged citizen of your own society. I look forward to doing this work with you.
I expect this class to stimulate and challenge each of us intellectually, emotionally and morally. I expect our work together to be both rigorous and enjoyable for all of us.
Course Outline
Week 1 - January 10
Introduction to the Course
Week 2 - January 15, 16, 17
Religion and Presidential Politics—Right Now
• Barak Obama. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream . New York : Crown Publishers, 2006. --"Faith," pp. 195-226
• “Holy Huckabee! The Unlikely Rise of a Preacher Politician,” and “A New American Holy War,” Newsweek, December 17, 2007
Links to the following websites will be emailed to you:
• Mitt Romney's “Faith in America ” address
• Beliefnet's “God-o-Meter”
• Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
• Beliefnet's “Casting Stones: A Boisterous Conclave on Faith and Politics”
• 2008 Election Procon.org
• “Christmas ads” from Huckabee, Clinton, Giuliani, Thompson and Obama campaigns
Also: Hit the blogs! We'll talk about this in class.
(Essay due Monday, January 14 by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website. The essay assignment is to answer one of these questions: (1) After studying these articles, websites and ads, how do you think religious issues and the candidates' religious beliefs will play out in the 2008 election? Or (2) After studying these articles, websites and ads, what did they tell you about religion and politics in America that you found disturbing, inspiring or compelling?) Week 3 - January 22, 23, 24
• Adam Hochschild. Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves. Boston / New York : Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
(Essay due Monday, January 21 by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.) Week 4 - January 29,30, 31
Religion and Politics from the Founders to George W. Bush
• Jon Meacham . American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. New York : Random House, 2006, pp. 3-132.
• Garry Wills. Head and Heart: American Christianities. New York : Penguin Press, 2007, pp. 450-552.
(Essay due Monday, January 28 by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.)
Week 5 - February 5, 6, 7
Evangelicals and Their Critics
• Jeffrey L. Scheler. Believers: A Journey into Evangelical America . New York : Viking, 2006.
• “Roots and Branches,” pp. 37-66
• “God's Country,” pp. 67-113
• “Capital Crusaders,” pp. 227-270
• Rick Warren. The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth am I Here For? Grand Rapids , Michigan : Zondervan, 2002, pp. 16-76.
• Sam Harris. Letter to a Christian Nation . New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
(In class quiz, Tuesday, February 5.)
Week 6 - February 12, 13, 14
Film Week
You will be asked to view several films prior to and during this week including Jesus Camp and The Education of Shelby Knox.
(Essay or quiz in class, TBA.)
Week 7 - February 19, 20, 21
• Jonathan Sacks. The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations . London / New York : Continuum, 2002.
(Essay due Monday, February 18 by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.)
Week 8 - February 26, 27, 28
Should French Schools Ban the Headscarf? Women, Secularism, and Islamic Religious Expression
• “French Law on Secularity and Conspicuous Religious Symbols in Schools,” Wikipedia. >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_law_on_secularity_and_conspicuous_ religious_ symbols_in_schools<
• “Should France Ban Head Scarves? Two French public school teachers offer differing views on the Hijab controversy,” Time International . February 9, 2004. Volume 163, issue 6, page 37. Read on-line. The link: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,586181,00.html
• Jane Kramer. “Taking the Veil: How France's Public Schools Became The Battleground in a Culture War,” The New Yorker , November 22, 2004.
• Fadela Amara. Breaking the Silence: French Women's Voices from the Ghetto. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2006, pp. 35-168.
• Asra Q. Nomani. “Veiled Babes: Why Are Western Publishers So Keen on Shrouded Cover Models?” Slate.com, November 7, 2006.
• Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf. “The Veil, My Body,” from Voices of Resistance: Muslim Women on War, Faith and Sexuality , edited by Sarah Husain.
(Essay due Monday, February 25 by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.)
Week 9 - March 4, 5, 6 • Geraldine Brooks. Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women . New York : Anchor Books, 1995.
(Essay due Monday, March 3 by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.)
No Class March 10-14 - Spring Break
Week 10 - March 18, 19, 20 Week 11 - March 25, 26, 27
• Discussion of Lawrence Wright. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York : Vintage Books, 2006.
(Essay due Monday, March 24 by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.)
Week 12 - April 1, 2, 3 Preparation for summer community-based research (CBR) projects
Training in research methods; critical reflection process for summer projects; IRB protocol for human subjects research
(Quiz in class on April 1)
Week 13 - April 8, 9, 10
Continuation of the work of previous week on CBR projects
Reflection on service-learning projects
(Brief reflective paper about service project due April 7, by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.)
(Research proposal due Monday, April 14, by 9:00, blackboard website.)
Week 14 - April 15, 16, 17
• Kiran Desai. The Inheritance of Loss. New York : Grove Press, 2006.
(Essay due Monday, April 14, by 9:00 p.m., blackboard website.)
Week 15 - April 22
Conclusion, summing up, farewells
Course Requirements
• Complete and punctual attendance at all classes and discussion sections
(Discussion group meetings will be held each Wednesday from 11:55-12:45)
• Carefully read the required texts before class each Tuesday
• Come to class ready for full and vigorous discussion
• Weekly writing assignments (see below)
• View assigned films
• Service-learning group project in March; informal reflection paper (see below)
• Research proposal (see below)
• Final paper (see below)
Grading Policy
Weekly assignments 40%
Class Participation 30%
Research Proposal 10%
Final Paper 20%
Evaluation
You will receive midterm grades for your weekly essays and class participation. Please note that you will not be graded on individual essays, but rather on the overall quality of your inquiry and growth throughout the semester. I will provide detailed, written guided feedback on at least one-third of the weekly assignments. In addition, a student assistant may respond to some of your written work as well.
A Note About Participation
Participate actively in class. Pay attention to both the content and the dynamic of our class discussions, and find creative, effective ways to help deepen our conversations throughout the semester. Make your comments count. This is a safe place to express yourself honestly, so take some risks to bring fresh perspectives to our work. Quality matters far more than quantity. If your tendency is to talk a lot, try observing more, and you will be more effective. If you are shy about speaking in class, we can help you.
Writing Assignments
1. Twelve weekly assignments . Assignments will include essays (mostly) and quizzes (occasionally, as scheduled above).
2. Reflective paper about the service-learning experience . This is a short paper that explores the civic, ethical and intellectual dimensions of the service-learning project that will be conducted in the local community during the semester. Due date is
April 7.
3. Research proposal —5 pages. Due Monday, April 14. The research proposal presents a research question and proposes methods for conducting a community-based research (CBR) project identified by the student. This can be a hypothetical project, or a specific CBR project funded by a SOL grant or another funding source.
4. Final paper . Due Thursday, May 1. Later in the semester, I will describe the final paper in more detail. You will be writing about a current issue of religion and public life. You will be asked to address the issue in its ethical and political complexity and explore options for public deliberation on the topic.
Guidance for Writing Assignments
Whether you are writing an essay or taking a quiz on the readings, the following questions are important: What is your analysis of the reading? What are the author's core themes and arguments? What are your own thoughts and ideas in relation to the author's viewpoint?
Your essays should be concise, well crafted, energetic pieces of writing that are a pleasure to read. Limit them to 500 words. As you write your essay, think of yourself as priming the pump for our class discussions. Use the essays to develop your own distinct voice, and remember that you are doing so in order to add something useful to our class discussions, and to enhance the quality of the learning experience for all of us.
As the semester progresses, you will be able to relate earlier readings, films and class discussions to the texts for the current week. I am interested in your reflections about the various people and issues we study in relation to the core themes of the class: religion and public life, values conflicts, and border crossing.
I am also interested in your response to the way in which the authors represent their subjects—in both works of fiction and non-fiction. What points of view do you detect in their portraits of these subjects, and how does that matter? Do you agree or disagree? What points do you find most compelling, most interesting, most challenging? Pick a salient aspect of the text and focus on that. You will do your best writing when you are writing about an aspect of the text that is important and compelling to you.
Some weeks we will read several short pieces by different authors, or we might read some history, say, and see a film. If so, please feel free to compare and contrast the texts and films, to write about their interplay and the ideas that interplay sparked in your own mind.
It is important to remember that the readings are your primary focus of analysis. Use your creativity in these papers, but anchor them closely to the text to demonstrate that you are coming to grips with the reading in some important way. I am looking for original, challenging thought and excellent writing on a coherent thesis closely related to the texts and to the themes of the course.
At times I may read excerpts of your papers in class, or ask you to post your papers on our blackboard website so the entire class can read and respond to them.
Required Texts
1. Jon Meacham. American Gospel: God, the Founding Fathers, and the Making of a Nation. New York : Random House, 2006.
2. Adam Hochschild. Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire's Slaves. Boston, New York : Houghton Mifflin, 2005.
3. Jonathan Sacks. The Dignity of Difference: How to Avoid the Clash of Civilizations . London / New York : Continuum, 2002.
4. Sam Harris. Letter to a Christian Nation . New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.
5. Geraldine Brooks. Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women . New York : Anchor Books, 1995.
6. Fadela Amara. Breaking the Silence: French Women's Voices from the Ghetto. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2006.
7. Kiran Desai. The Inheritance of Loss. New York : Grove Press, 2006.
8. Lawrence Wright. The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. New York : Vintage Books, 2006.
The required books are available in the textbook department of the Regulator Bookshop on Ninth Street. Additional readings will include articles and book excerpts, which will be distributed in class or are available on the Internet.
SOL summer grants
February 29, 2008 is the due date for Service Opportunities in Leadership summer grant applications for community-based research. An information session about the grant application process will be held Wednesday, January 23 (room 151, Rubenstein) during our regularly scheduled discussion group meeting.
SOL grant awards will be announced on Friday, March 7.
Further details about SOL grants and other funding opportunities for research service learning will be provided in the Wednesday sessions.
If you receive a SOL grant, you are required to attend an afternoon training retreat on Wednesday, April 16.
Service-Learning Project
During the section of the course in March about Muslim Women's Identity, the entire class will undertake a service project with a local Islamic religious organization. This will most likely include sessions in the early evening on two Fridays and two Saturday morning sessions as well. Details will be announced early in the semester.
Dinner and informal discussion
In the second half of the semester I will invite you to dinner at my house, which is near campus. I will provide the food and drinks.
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