The Culture of the
Professions
UNST 256 • Winter 2003
Instructor: Richard
Beyler
Grad mentor: Samantha Soma
E-mail: beylerr
[at] pdx [dot] edu
• Tel. 503-725-3996
E-mail: somas [at] pdx [dot] edu
Office: CH
441-O (History
Dept.)
Office
hours: TuTh
12:30-1:30 or by appt.
Course meets TuTh 11-12:15
in CH 228
Mentor
sections meet in CH 196:
Web-CT
site via www.webct.pdx.edu
Tu 10-10:50, Tu
1:00-1:50, or Th 10-10:50
Themes. This course is an inquiry into the historical
development and cultural role of the professions– socially recognized
communities of expert knowledge, such as law, medicine, science,
engineering,
etc. These bodies of experts have great
authority and responsibility in modern society, but also face enormous
challenges. We will consider the origins
of the social authority of the professions, the nature and implications
of
expert knowledge, the ethics of professional activity, and processes of
inclusion (and exclusion) in the professions.
(This class is not
designed to provide counseling on personal career choice, development,
etc.,
though you may well find that some of the information we encounter is
useful
for that purpose.)
Objectives. This class is part of PSU’s general education
program, University Studies. It is
designed to build upon skills and perspectives which you developed in
your
Freshman Inquiry courses–or, for transfer students, the equivalent. For those students pursuing the Professions
and Power cluster, this course also is intended to be an introduction
to the
300-level courses in that part of the general education program.
UNST classes have as their
overarching goals improving students’ capacity for critical
thinking, appreciation
of the variety of human experience,
and awareness of ethical issues and
social responsibility, and effective communication. How these are addressed in any given class
depends on the specific themes of that course.
Our specific emphases include the following:
• Critical thinking: We
develop conceptual tools for analysis of
and critical thinking about the professions.
We will explore the relationships between bodies of knowledge,
communities which create and use that knowledge, and the broader social
impacts
of that process.
• Variety of human
experience: We explore changes and
continuities in the organization of the professions historically, as
well as
challenges faced by particular groups as agents and objects of
professional
expertise.
• Ethical issues and social
responsibility: We will analyze some of
the ethical and social debates within and surrounding the development
and use
of expert knowledge, historically and in the present-day, and begin to
develop
our own critically informed interpretations of these debates.
• Communication: Many
of the assignments for this class will
involve, in some fashion or another, writing that involves critical
thinking
about the social context of the professions, awareness of changes and
continuities over time, or analysis of current ethical and social
problems
involving professional knowledge. Some
assignments will also provide opportunity to develop graphical and
quantitative
communication skills. Additionally, we
will practice critical thinking through discussion throughout the term.
Texts. Available at PSU Bookstore (corner of 6th
and Montgomery):
Porter, Theodore M. Trust in
Numbers The Pursuit of Objectivity
in Science and Public Life.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Harr, Jonathan. A Civil Action.
New York: Vintage Books,
1995.
Tang, Joyce, and Earl Smith,
eds. Women and Minorities in American
Professions. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996.
Available at Clean Copy
(corner of Broadway & Mill): Reading Packet.
Articles on Electronic Reserve, on-line via the PSU library web
site (password required):
http://psu-eres.lib.pdx.edu/courseindex.asp.
Formal requirements
1) Response
essays (4 @ 10% = 40%). There will be five
assigned; you are
required to complete four. (If you do
all five, the low score will be discarded.)
Discussion and revision in the context of the mentor sections
will be
part of the process of completing these essays.
2) Research
project and presentation (25%). This is a
project based on independent
research on a topic on a topic chosen in consulation with me and/or
Samantha. Conventionally, this takes the
form of a
paper, but alternative formats such as websites, or group projects are
also
possible based on prior negotiation. A
required part of the research project is submission of a working
outlines,
bibliography, and notes (week VII). You
should also develop either a brief “poster presentation,” to be
presented in
one of several panels organized for the last two weeks of class, or a
web-based
presentation posted to the course’s WebCT site.
3) Final exam
(25%).
4) Attendance in
plenary and mentor sessions;
participation in discussions and activities (10%).
We will monitor attendance; there may be
occasional brief in-class assignments or activities in response to
readings;
additionally, we may use Web-CT for preparatory or follow-up
discussions,
etc. Please come to class prepared to
ask questions, contribute to discussions, etc.
TENATIVE
SCHEDULE
(Subject to change!)
RP = Reading
Packet; ER = Electronic Reserves
WEEK I, 7-9 Jan. Definitions
and Origins: What Is a Profession? Why Study the Professions?
RP: Carey, “A True
Profession”;
ER:
Menand, “Trashing the Professions”
Begin Porter, Trust in Numbers
(finish by Wk. IV)
WEEK II, 14-16 Jan. History
of Medicine as Example
RP:
Engelhardt, “Disease ...”; Howell, “Hearts
and Minds”; Numbers, “Fall and Rise ...”
ER:
Brandt & Gardner, “Antagonism and Accomodation ...”
Continue Porter, Trust in Numbers
Tue. 14 Jan. Video
presentation
Thu. 16 Jan. Guest lecture:
Prof. Craig Wollner
Response Essay #1 due Thu. 16 Jan.
WEEK III, 21-23 Jan. History
of Science as Example
ER: Pandora,
“Knowledge Held in Common”
Continue Porter, Trust in Numbers
WEEK IV, 28-30 Jan. The
Problem of Objectivity. Knowledge and
Expert Communities
RP: Grann,
“Stalking ...”; Lemann &
MacDonald, “Great Sorting”; Lemann, “Structure ...”
Finish Porter, Trust in Numbers
Response
Essay #2 due Thu. 30 Jan.
WEEK V, 4-6 Feb. Credentialism: Control over Expert Knowledge
RP: Levinson, “Law
as Literature”
Begin Harr, A Civil Action (finish by
Wk. VIII)
Thu. 6 Feb. Guest
lecture: Prof. Tim Garrison
WEEK VI, 11-13 Feb. Power
and Ethics in/of Professional Knowledge
RP: Arnauld of
Villanova, “On the Precautions
That Physicians Must Observe”
ER:
Werhane, “Engineers ...”; Hippocratic Oath; Shestak, “Taking
Professionalism ...”
In Tang & Smith: Introduction; essay
by Scott
Continue Harr, A Civil Action
Response
Essay #3 due Thu. 13 Feb.
WEEK VII, 18-20 Feb. Professional
Ethics, cont’d. Case Study:
The David Baltimore Affair
ER: Davis &
Michelson, “School Counselors”;
Kevles, “Assault on David Baltimore”
Continue Harr, A Civil Action
WEEK VIII, 25-27 Feb. Who
Can Be a Professional? Race, Gender, Class
in the Professions
In Tang & Smith:
essays by Wright, Kaldenberg et al., DiTomaso & Smith,
Leighninger,
Liska
Finish Harr, A Civil Action
Response Essay #4 due Thu. 27 Feb.
WEEK IX, 4-6 Mar. Economic
and Social Costs of Professional
Services
In Tang & Smith:
essays by Smith, Tang
Tue. 4 Mar. Panel I
Thu. 6 Mar. Panel II
WEEK X, 11-13 Mar. Professionals,
Clients, and Accountability
ER: Gawande, “When
Doctors Make Mistakes”
In Tang & Smith: Conclusion
Tue. 11 Mar. Panel
III
Thu. 13 Mar. Panel IV
Response
Essay #5 due Thu. 13 Mar.
EXAM WEEK: Thu.
20 Mar, 10:15-12:05: Final Exam;
Research Projects due