SYLLABUS
INTRODUCTION: This
course seeks to provoke an intellectual examination of issues connected
to the concepts "power" and "authority" as exercised
and experienced within selected nonwestern societies and cultures. Using
a cross disciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, the course will
explore notions, types and uses of power and authority through political,
historical and cultural "case studies" drawn from the experiences
of the Hausa of Nigeria in Africa, the Japanese and the Hmong resident
in Merced, California. Our discussions also will provide implicit and
explicit comparisons along the way with the function and use of power
and authority in American culture and society.
The variety of social and cultural contexts studied will enable students
to examine, among other topics, the power and authority vested in traditional
customs and beliefs, the impact of westernization and modernization
on expressions of power and authority within nonwestern political traditions,
the manifestations of power and authority in aspects of contemporary
popular culture, the nature of the "postmodern" construction
of power and authority and cross-cultural conflicts in the practice
of medicine.
The course of study
has been designed to encourage students to think “outside the
box” about the ways in which “power” and “authority”
(and other related concepts) influence -- and are affected by –
individual lifestyles, community concerns, national issues and international
affairs, both within the United States and abroad. Those enrolled will
be encouraged to develop and enhance communication skills, both oral
and written, in the pursuit of this goal and should expect to emerge
from the experience with both an enlarged, more detailed, more reflective
understanding and appreciation of the world around them and with improved
abilities to communicate that tolerance efficiently, accurately and
with insight.
The course seeks to illuminate answers to the following specific set
of related questions:
- What is the
nature of "power" and "authority"? How do "power"
and "authority" interact with one another both in theory
and in practice? How are the two concepts interrelated? How are they
made manifest in various social and cultural contexts? How expressed?
- Where does power
and authority reside? How do standards of power and authority gain
legitimacy?
- Who controls
/ possesses / shapes the exercise and imposition of power and authority
within a given cultural or social context?
- What relationship exists between expressions of cultural power and authority and political power and authority within any particular given societal context?
COURSE OBJECTIVES: By the end of fifteen weeks of instruction, students enrolled in POWER AND AUTHORITY IN NONWESTERN SOCIETIES should be able to --
- effectively
conceptualize a variety of meanings inherent in usage of the terms
"power" and "authority";
- analyze,
using appropriate supporting examples and illustrations drawn from
course content, various manifestations (economic, social, political,
religious, cultural) of power and authority applicable in a variety
of historical, social and cultural contexts;
- illustrate
the interplay between power and authority utilizing a variety of specific
illustrative examples drawn from the study of nonwestern societies
and cultures;
- examine with insight and understanding the locus and controlling factors evident in the expression of power and authority in specific contexts (traditional / modern / contemporary / postmodern; western / nonwestern)
Course content will be delivered through readings, video, discussion, the Internet, computer-aided presentations and lecture.
Students will expected to demonstrate mastery of this content through a series of four short (2 - 3 page) essays on assigned topics.
Readings for the course are available online through Electronic Course Reserve or at Barnes and Noble Bookstore.
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SYLLABUS | ASSUMPTIONS
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