HOD 3000 – Academic year 2003- 04
Pro-seminar and Colloquium Series
Coordinators: Paul Speer and Isaac Prilleltensky
Fridays 2 to 3 30 pm
Payne 110
This outline may also be read on
http://www.education.miami.edu/facultysites/isaacp/prosem.htm
Outline
The main aim of the
pro-seminar/colloquium series is to build a coherent theory that represents our
knowledge and interests in human, organizational, and community development. We
wish to create a theory that will guide our research, teaching, and
interventions.
In order to meet
this goal we will engage in focused activities that build, critique, and revise
an emerging theory. Where we start is not where might end up at the conclusion
of the series. Unlike other colloquia in which speakers deliver interesting but
otherwise somewhat disjointed presentations, in this series participants will
be asked to address a particular topic or a set of concerns.
Multiple theories
exist and may be created to explain how human, organizational, and community
development are co-determined. In our judgment, there is one element that is
both promising and neglected at the same time. Power is a key concept that
remains under-theorized and under-utilized. As such, we will concentrate our
efforts on understanding how power affects human, organizational, and community
development.
Each week we will
deal with a different aspect of power in the social sciences. During the first
few weeks HOD faculty will discuss their work related to psychopolitical
validity, a concept that embodies psychological and political power to explain
and influence social phenomena. Following a period of discussion we will
develop criteria for a theory of power in the social sciences. Once we develop
emerging criteria for a theory of power in the social sciences, we will apply
it to a variety of readings, videos, and talks to test its utility. This will
serve as a testing ground to check whether our emerging concepts are indeed
helpful in explaining and analyzing social phenomena affecting human,
organizational, and community development.
Towards the end of the first semester we will re-evaluate our efforts
and collectively determine the next steps.
Related websites
Presenters and
students are asked to address research and practice questions described in a
proposal for an international collaboration on power issues. Please visit the
following website to orient yourself to the philosophy we are trying to
promote. This is a proposal that our department is pioneering with other
colleagues around the world. By attending to the issues discussed in the
proposal you will help as a presenter to focus on the main issues of
concern. The website is
http://www.education.miami.edu/facultysites/isaacp/prop.htm
There are questions
related to power, wellness, and oppression. If you are a presenter, please make
an effort to connect your work to any of the questions presented in the
proposal.
A second website
that may be of interest is
http://www.education.miami.edu/facultysites/isaacp/power.htm
This website is the
original paper on psychopolitical validity that
prompted the development of the proposal above.
Schedule for Fall
2003
|
Date |
Topic/Presenters/Agenda |
|
1. 8/29 [This session ends at |
Video: People like us. Overview and
introduction to Power and Psychopolitical Validity.
Paul Speer and Isaac Prilleltensky |
|
2. 9/5 |
Case study of PPV in action Application
of PPV tenets to social intervention in |
|
3. 9/12 |
Panel
on Psychopolitical Validity (PPV) in multiple
settings Brian
Christens, Doug Perkins, Maury Nation, Brian Williams, Diana Jones, Paul Dokecki. Authors of papers
for special issue on PPV present 5 minute summaries of papers. |
|
4. 9/19 |
Application
of conceptual criteria to reading on power by Haugaard: The constitution of power |
|
5. 9/26 |
Power in international perspective Presentation on
|
|
6. 10/3 |
Power in collaborative processes A conversation
with Bob Newbrough and Yolanda Suarez about the
role of power in both the content and the process of the Community Action
Research Centers. |
|
7. 10/10 |
Power across different levels of analysis Power in
personal, interpersonal, organizational and collective domains. People from
HDC to talk about the personal and interpersonal. HOCD about organizational
and CRA about the collective. Students volunteer to go on police patrol
and/or other community experience and share with class their perceptions. |
|
8. 10/17 |
Power and life narratives Participants
use PPV and relate stories of power throughout their development. Volunteers
identified ahead of time. 5 minutes each Out for a drink…. |
|
9. 10/24 |
Power and race Panel of
internal and external guests. Group to
decide on exact format for this session. |
|
Date |
Topic/Presenters/Agenda |
|
10. 10/31 |
Power, health and policy issues Discussion of
power issues in health, mental health policy and administration (Vera
Chatman, Marsha Davis, Craig Anne Heflinger) |
|
11. 11/7 |
Power and policing Invited
speaker Police Officer Pawelski Discussants: Brian
Williams and Michael Stahl |
|
12. 11/14 |
Movie Night Group out for
movie with relevance to theme of power – TBA. |
|
13. 11/21 |
Video: Commanding heights. Session on
power, social policy and economics |
|
14. 12/5 |
Student presentation Students taking
class for grade present mini-talks on application of power issues and PPV to
material covered in other classes. Plan second semester |
Assignments for students taking the course
for grade
1. Students will submit to Paul Speer or
Isaac Prilleltensky two short papers during the
semester. Each paper will be worth 35% of the course grade. Papers will be due
on Weeks 7 and 12. Each paper will be 4 pages long, double spaced. Papers will
consist of a reflection on how the material covered in the proseminar
relates to material covered in other classes. Specifically, each paper will
address two issues:
a. How the
discussions in the proseminar relate to one or more
of the courses taken by the students.
b. What are the
applied implications for the practice of HOCD & HDC that may be derived
from discussions and presentations at the proseminar.
2. Students will present at the last class
a brief analysis of how issues of power intersect with the practice of HDC
& HOCD in various settings. Students can choose for their presentations
diverse settings and issues and can rely on materials from other courses and/or
field experiences. The essence of the presentation is how power affects
research and/or action related to human, organizational and community
development. No need to submit a copy of the presentation. This component of
the grade will be worth 30%