Description: Picture of Paul Conway

Paul Conway
Professor of Political Science
Phone: 436-3923
Email: CONWAYPG
Office: 410 Fitzelle Hall
Office Hours: TBA

Description: Picture of Steve Gilbert

Steven Gilbert
Professor of Psychology
Phone: 436-2557
Email: GILBERSJ
Office: 127a Fitzelle Hall
Office Hours:
MW 1; T 10; Th 11

PSYC 294 meets on Tuesday & Thursday from 4:00 - 5:15 PM in Fitzelle 319.

Mandated Building Evacuation Procedure

SUNY-Oneonta Fall 2009

POLS/PSYC 294: Obedience, Conformity, and Courage in Political Affairs

FINAL GRADES (listed by fake names) <<<<<<<<<

Course Description

It is often difficult to explain the success and failure of individuals in politics and public affairs. But we must try! In this course we use basic concepts and theories in the fields of psychology and political science to examine how and why people sometimes rise to the level of courageous behavior in pursuit of noble goals. Likewise we consider why people often succumb to pressures to obey or conform to the expectations of others even when they know they should do otherwise.  Several well known experiments and case studies related to the practices of torture and “whistleblowing” will considered in depth.

During the semester you will be reading two books and a variety of articles, as well as viewing a number of videos. There will be frequent class discussions of what you've read and seen, and the thinking they have encouraged. During the Thanksgiving vacation, you will be interviewing a parent, close relative, or family friend; those interviews will be the primary source material for a paper that you will write soon after you return. The final weeks of the course will be devoted to class presentations and discussions of these interviews and papers.

You will be evaluated on the basis of two tests, a final examination, and the paper. The following tables give the point value of each activity, and the number of total points required for each grade.

Activity

Points

% of total

Points

%age

Grade

Test 1

50

20%

233

93.3%

  A

Test 2

50

20%

225

90.0%

  A-

Final Exam

75

30%

217

86.7%

  B+

Paper

75

30%

208

83.3%

  B 

 

 

 

200

80.0%

  B-

Total

250

100%

192

76.7%

  C+

183

73.3%

  C 

175

70.0%

  C-

167

66.7%

  D+

158

63.3%

  D 

150

60.0%

  D-

<150

<60.0%

  E

 

We expect perfect class attendance. The table below shows the number of points that will be deducted based upon the number of class absences. We'd be delighted to record a 0 for each of you!

 

Points

 

 

Points

Absences

Deducted

Absences

Deducted

       1

       0

       8

       8

       2

       0

       9

     16

       3

       0

     10

     32

       4

       0

     11

     64

       5

       1

     12

    100

       6

       2

   >12

    100

       7

       4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Required books

Milgram, S. (1975). Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper Torchbooks.

Zimbardo, P. (2008). The Lucifer Effect. New York: Random House.

Course Calendar

We start with a skeleton Course Calendar. Throughout the semester we will add specific reading assignments for each class. It is your responsibility to check the Course Calendar frequently, for added assignments.

Links

Interview/Paper Assignment

Gilbert, S. J. (1981). Another Look at the Milgram
Obedience Studies: The Role of the Gradated Series of Shocks, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 7(4), 690-695.

 

Academic Websites of Interest

Dr. Thomas Blass Presents: Stanley Milgram.com

Phillip Zimbardo's Lucifer Effect website

The Situationist

http://www.peoplefinders.com/article-peoples-perceptions-and-the-stanford-prison-experiment.aspx

Reconciliation in Rwanda--Stories of Rescue

B=f(P,S,PxS) Lecture

Courage

Media Praise for Monica Brown

Lara Logan speaks with Monica Brown, only the second woman to ever be awarded the Silver Star since World War II

She Ran to Gunfire, and Ended It

Research on the Amygdala

Additional Research on the Amygdala

Candid Camera Conformity in an Elevator

 

WHISTLEBLOWERS

 

National Whistelblowers Center website I

National Whistleblowers Center website II

http://www.whistleblower.org/template/index.cfm

 

 

Groupthink

Andersonville links: These materials were prepared as part of a class assignment for The Seminar in Famous Trials course at the University of Missouri-K.C. School of Law.

The Trial of Captain Henry Wirz: a brief summary by Bill Carnes and Troy Drew

Main Page of Andersonville student website

Dr. Conway's conference presentation on Heroism