1. Choose a Topic and write a proposal (Leadership)2. Write a paper introduction

This JINS course is about leadership and decision-making; the term paper is to be an in-depth analysis of a particular leadership decision. This may be a critical review of a decision made in the past (an historical focus) or a fictional decision as depicted in a classic work of film or literature (novel, play, short story, or poem). A “classic” is a work of art of lasting value; something so well-done that it stands the test of time as a recognized masterpiece. “Moby Dick” is a classic, for example, while “Free Willy” is not. Generally, more recent works (e.g., “The Hunger Games” or the “Twilight” series) can NOT be considered classics – even if they are very popular – because it takes a certain amount of time before a work can be legitimately recognized as having the kind of lasting value that makes it a classic. (Critics who want to praise a new work of high quality will often say it is “destined to become a classic” – but “destined to” is not yet.) Documents listing approved classics in film and literature can be found in the Content section of BLACKBOARD. Any work not on this list would need the specific (prior) approval of the course instructor.

Approval may be denied if the instructor feels the topic will prove to be unworkable, but it may also be denied if the topic has been so thoroughly over-done that further discussion is cliché. Examples of these (over-done) topics are the Donner party, the Pearl Harbor attack, the novel The Lord of the Flies, and the sinking of the Titanic.

A few other excellent topics may be denied if the instructor is using them as illustrative examples in class. Examples of these (in-class) topics are the Guadalcanal campaign, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Operation Olympic (the proposed invasion of Kyushu and Honshu as an alternative to bombing Hiroshima), and the movies Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Hunt for Red October, and Apollo 13.

Students should also pick topics for which they know there is information available to research: A student may be fascinated with the disappearance of the first USS Saratoga, for example, but little is known about this sloop in the (American) Continental Navy except that she was lost with all hands in stormy weather in Caribbean waters.

To summarize, each proposed topic must meet the following criteria:

1) Who – there must be an identifiable leader , or a person who had the responsibility to make the decision under examination. In other words the decision must be “owned” by an identifiable leader, it cannot be something “somebody” should have done differently. This “identifiable leader” requirement is particularly aimed at preventing students from tossing a decision to such generic entities as “the government,” “the church,” “the people,” etc. It would be acceptable, in rare circumstances, to use an identifiable entity rather than a particular person. For example, examining the Battle of Tora Bora (Afghanistan), in which U.S. Special Operations personnel and Afghan allies attempted to capture Osama bin Laden in December, 2001, decisions by “U.S. Central Command” or “U.S. National Command Authority” might be examined as there appears to be no way at this time to link all of the decisions made to a specific individual.

2) What – the decision must be able to be isolated and identified , and ultimately (in subsequent assignments) the alternatives open to the leader must be able to be clearly articulated. While a full knowledge of the decision is NOT required at this point, by the end of the semester the student could not postulate, for example, that “something” other than dropping atomic bombs should have been employed by Harry S. Truman to end World War II. He or she would have to argue (again, for example) that an amphibious assault of the Japanese home islands or continuing naval blockade could have and would have been better methods to end the war.

3) Where – because of the nature of this particular JINS course, there are limitations regarding the location in which this leadership decision played out. The setting of the decision must be some kind of extreme environment, such as alpine, aviation, desert, hyperbaric (undersea), littoral (border between the sea and land), maritime, microgravity (space), polar, riverine (including adjacent swampland), tropical (semi-desert or rainforest), and woodland (coniferous forest to prairie savanna) settings. Again, returning to the example of the Battle of Tora Bora, this topic would be acceptable because the situation played out in the mountains of Afghanistan, even if the decision under examination was made by someone in Tampa, FL, (U.S. Central Command) or Washington, DC, (U.S. National Command Authority).

The final requirement of an acceptable topic is that there must be room for argument . The question of whether or not Titanic should have been steaming that fast at night through iceberg-filled waters or whether or not the Donner Party should have tried to cross the Sierra Nevada that late in the season is pretty much a no-brainer: Who would possibly argue otherwise? In other words, you should not choose to investigate a situation where there is, was, or will be only one obvious answer to the question.

Assignment Submission