Summer Semester, 2015
Dates and Times: Friday, May 22, 29, June 5, 12, 19, 26, July
10, 6:00pm-10:00pm
Credit Hours: 4
Instructor:
Roger F. Cram, Adjunct Faculty. B.A.,
Hiram College;
M.B.A., Kent State University. President Member Tuskegee Airmen North Coast Chapter, Scholarship Committee,
Central Division, National Tuskegee Airmen, FAA Certified Flight Instructor.
Course Description:
This course will study
group dynamics and leadership theories using the Tuskegee Airmen experiment as a
basis. We will examine how racism can be successfully combated with ethics, and
how goal setting, nonverbal communications, and strong group leadership can
overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Despite many, almost insurmountable obstacles
intentionally placed in the way of their success, the black Tuskegee-trained
airmen triumphed over all opposition and developed into the most skilled and
formidable fighting air force ever known. This course will attempt to find
answers to the following questions: How could this be when the architecture of
the Tuskegee Airmen program was designed for failure? How did the Tuskegee
Airmen’s group dynamics serve as a “substitute” for outside managerial
leadership? How did nonverbal communication play a major role in the Tuskegee
Airmen achieving their objectives? How did the
Tuskegee group leaders employ
various leadership theories to successfully overcome their obstacles.
Course Requirements:
Attendance, two quizzes (20% each), one final exam (20%), one research paper
(20%), two short essays (5%) each, and one field trip (10%).
Required Text(s):
Homan, L.M. & Reilly, T. (2001). Black Knights: The Story
of the Tuskegee
Airmen. Pelican.
First Assignment: Read Chapters I-II in the Black Knights, Read
Chapter 1 in Human Communication
Prerequisite:
No prerequisite.
This
course will satisfy one or more of the following:
|
General Graduation Requirement |
Interdisciplinary-One Instructor |
|
Core Requirement for Major |
N/A |
|
Correlative, Track or Additional
Coursework for Major |
Business Management |
Tentative
Syllabus
4-hour class sessions
The
Tuskegee
Airmen-
A Study in Group Leadership and Nonverbal Communications
Summer 2015 - WEC
Friday, May 22, 29, June 5, 12, 19, 26, July 10, 6:00pm-10:00pm
Tentative Weekend
College Syllabus
WEC - Summer 2015 TRI-C
The Tuskegee Airmen-A Study in Group-Leadership
Weekend I –
May 22
Text – Black Knights – The Story of Tuskegee Airmen - Chapters I
through II – to be read before first class
Text –
Social Context of Nonverbal Behavior -
Chapter 1 –
Presented in class lectures (book not necessary)
Video – The Tuskegee
Airmen - Laurence Fishburn
Discuss class presentations on July 3, 2015,
form two-person team
Weekend
II – May 29
Text - Black Knights – Story of Tuskegee Airmen -
Chapters III through IV
Text – Social
Context of Nonverbal Behavior
-
Chapter 2 -
Presented in class
lectures (book not necessary)
Video – The Tuskegee
Airmen – They Fought Two Wars.
Video - The Tuskegee
Airmen Gold Medal Presentation in Washington
The Tuskegee Airmen Value
System
Group discussions/activities
Class
III – June 5
Text - Black Knights – Story of Tuskegee Airmen
- Chapters V through VI
Text –
Social Context of Nonverbal Behavior -
Chapter
3 - Presented in class lectures (book not necessary)
Video – Nightfighters – The True Story of the 332nd Fighter
Group – The Tuskegee Airmen
Extra Credit: A Tuskegee Airman Research Paper:
Why did the Tuskegee Airmen fight for a country that didn’t want them?
This will count up to 3% of the final grade if the student feels
extra credit is needed.
Group discussions/activities and
group assignments
Pizza
party
Test One – take-home quiz, to be turned in at the June 12 class
Class
IV – June 12
Text - Black Knights – Story of Tuskegee Airmen
- Chapters VII through IX
Text –
Social Context of Nonverbal Behavior
- Chapter 7 - Presented in
class lectures (book not necessary)
The Tuskegee Airmen Problem-Solving Model
Video: Flying for Freedom
Other world heroes of peace
employing Tuskegee Airmen Values
Group discussions/activities
Class V
– June 19
Text - Black Knights – Story of Tuskegee Airmen
- Chapters XIII through XIV
Text –
Social Context of Nonverbal Behavior
- Chapter 10 - Presented
in class lectures (book not necessary)
Test Two – Take-home quiz
– to be turned in at the June 26, 2015 class through the last class;
student's choice. The quiz will cover similarities between the Heroes'
values and those presented in the documentary
film Passion and Discipline.
Notes
from Passion and Discipline and Quiz Two description are located below
this syllabus. Click here.
Tuskegee Airmen 4-TEST (GAP) Problem-Solving Model (Click above Mustang)
The Value System of World Heroes attributes - Click on
VALUES.
Group discussions/activities
Video - Passion and Discipline
Take home final exam issued, due last class on July 9, 2015.
Class
VI – June 26
Optional hors
d'oeuvres party provided by
students
Class presentations
Text - Black Knights – Story of Tuskegee Airmen
- Chapters XV through XIII
Text –
Social Context of Nonverbal Behavior-
Chapter 13 - Presented in class lectures
(book not necessary)
Turn in Research Paper
Turn in take-home
test two
Group discussions/activities
July 3 - NO
CLASS - 4th JULY WEEKEND
Research Paper Requirements:
Compare the Tuskegee Airmen's remarkable peaceful conflict resolution
abilities with similarities of your assigned hero. 750 words
Class Presentation Requirements:
Make a 30-minute class presentation with your group (including 10
minutes for questions) regarding a dilemma involving prejudice against
the Tuskegee Airmen. Discuss why this prejudice might have existed, how
the Tuskegee Airmen addressed the situation, the values they used to
peacefully resolve the issue, and what can be learned
from the experience.
QUESTIONS:
330-569-4912
Hiram
College
Take Home Quiz One - Summer Semester 2015
Tuskegee
Airmen
Name
____________________________ Date: ___________Possible 100 points
Section One:
Individual Identification: 2 points each, possible 28 points
1. _____ Charles McGee
A. Flew with Eleanor Roosevelt
2. _____ Span Watson
B. Living airmen and a practicing architect
3. _____ Alexander
Jefferson
C. Tuskegee Airmen’s only ACE
4. _____ Benjamin O.
Davis
Jr.
D. Shot down the first German jet fighter
5._____ Yancy Williams
E. Supportive commander of the
Tuskegee
base
6. _____ Roscoe Brown
F. A P-40 fighter pilot living in Cleveland
7. _____ Noel Parrish
G. Saw Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis
8. _____ Frederick Von Kimble H.
West Point Graduate
9. _____ Arthur Saunders
I. Filed a law suit against the U.S. Military
10. _____ Charles Dryden
J. Flew 149 Tuskegee Combat missions
11. _____ Herbert Carter
K. Red tail pilot who trained German’s in jets
12. _____ Lee Archer
L. Unsupportive commander of the
Tuskegee
base
13. _____ Clarence Jamison
M. A red tail pilot shot down on a strafing run
14. _____ Alfred Anderson
N. The real A-Train
Section Two:
Fill in the Blank: 4 points each, possible 32 points
15. How many cadets were in the first class at Tuskegee? _______
16. How many of the cadets in question 15 graduated?
_______
17. The military number assigned to the first
Tuskegee Airmen pursuit squadron? _____
18. What was the number of the final fighter squadron
group after all the squadrons combined? _______
19. Who was the founder of the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee Alabama?
___________________________
20. The
military number assigned to the Tuskegee Airmen bombing group? _______
21. Who was
the bigot commander of the medium bombardment group at Freeman Field
mentioned in question 20? ___________________________________
22. Who was Lt. Col. John T. Hazard and what was his
job?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Section Three:
Short Answer: 4 points each, possible 28 points
23. The Tuskegee Airmen were good shots in their
aircraft; why was their only one ACE?
24. Where do you think the Tuskegee Airmen leaders
received their values?
25. Give several examples of non-verbal
communications as it pertains to the Tuskegee Airmen story.
26. The Tuskegee Airmen fought two wars; what were
they?
27. What
are and give some examples of Jim Crow laws? (look this up on the
Internet)
28. Why were the original Tuskegee Airmen first
assigned to Northern Africa where, for the most part, the war was coming
to a close and there was little enemy in the area?
29. Why did several Tuskegee Airmen not tell their
children the role they played in World War II?
Section Four -
Miscellaneous
30. 12
possible points Review the first twelve attributes in the value system
at: http://oldhome.hiram.edu/tuskegeeairmen/hiram%20high%20school%20syllabus.htm
Which two do you think are the most inspiring?
Why do you think so?
Give two examples of how the Tuskegee Airmen applied each of your two
chosen values.
Quiz
Two - Take Home - Summer 2015
Passion and
Discipline
On the top portion of this webpage, under the P-51
Mustang, there is a link to the documentary film
Passion and Discipline shown on
YouTube. This film was shown in class and can be viewed again by clicking
on the top-of-the page link. Your Quiz Two is to write a 750 word essay
comparing the Tuskegee Airmen's fourteen values to the values and virtues
presented in Passion and Discipline. Not only compare the values, but
compare the acts, the deeds, and the sacrifices undertaken that
demonstrate the values. Use at least five Heroes' Values in this quiz for
comparison.
Example 1: Don Quixote rarely considered the
possible consequences when performing what he considered a necessary and
heroic deed. He instead felt he was needed to "right a wrong" or rescue
someone unable to fight for themselves.
1. The
Tuskegee Airmen protected the bombers with their
lives, without regard to consequences, knowing that ..."if any
bomber got shot down, they must be shot down first."
2. Councilman Corey set up a huge tent in
an apartment complex where drug trafficking was so heavy that security
guards were chased away by the dealers. He went on a
hunger strike
until something was done about this dangerous and unacceptable drug
problem. He was not concerned with consequences,
most of which were unknown, but only concerned with positive results. (See Heroes' value: Character)
The notes from Passion and Discipline are
below for your convenience.
Don Quixote's message is to
find meaning in life, to understand oneself and to define success other
than by material means. The word "errant" deviating from the
normal, traveling as a medieval knight in quest of adventure, moving about
aimlessly in an aimless manner such as a light changing breeze.
The knight-errant hero of one of the great classics of literature
showed the key ingredients of leadership in his quests
for adventure and grievances to redress, says Dr. March, an emeritus
professor of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Don Quixote had
imagination, passion, commitment, discipline, and joy; he just wasn't
connected to the real world.
"We live in a world that emphasizes
realistic expectations and clear successes. Quixote had neither. But
through failure after failure, he persists in his vision and his
commitment. He persists because he knows who he is."
Quixote lived
his life with passion and discipline, March says, much as a flamenco
dancer performs with seeming abandon, yet acts within the strictures of
the art. Leaders can learn from Quixote, whose life was
dedicated to imagination (See Heroes' value: Vision),
commitment (See Heroes' value: Perseverance), and joy
(See Heroes' value: Character). "The critical concerns of
leadership are not technical questions of management or power, they are
fundamental issues of life," March says.
"What was important to Don
Quixote was his sense of himself," (See Heroes' value: Value).
Dr. March emphasizes. "Consequences were secondary to him (See our
Heroes' value: Character). What was important was being a proper
knight errant."
Dr. March seeks to go beyond the conventional business
model, where plans are justified by the expected consequences (See
Heroes' value: Character), into Don Quixote's world, ruled by
vision a (See Heroes' value: Vision) and a strong sense
of self. "I always give a footnote in California," he adds. "Don Quixote's
sense of himself was not self-indulgent; it was not me-me-me. He wanted to
be a proper knight errant" -- which involves discipline and commitment.
Dr. March concludes his film: "A life of leadership requires passion
and discipline (See Heroes' values: Character and Values)
-- being able to say 'I know who I am.'"
Quixote reminds us:
"If we trust only when trust is warranted, (See Heroes' value:
Trust)
love only when love is returned, and (See
Heroes' value: Behavior)
learn only when learning is valuable,
we abandon an essential feature of our humanness*." (See
Heroes' value: Values)
*Humanness = qualities and
characteristics of charity, love, compassion, forgiveness, free choice,
wisdom, volunteerism, and other positive attributes that animals do not
possess. (Roger Cram definition)
Don Quixote addresses two
questions:
(1) Why fight when success is not assumed?
(2) Why be
virtuous when virtue is not rewarded? (See Heroes' values:
Character, Judging, and Values)
a. How do we use vision and imagination? (See Heroes' value:
Vision)
b. How do we sustain commitment? (See Heroes' value: Perseverance)
Commitment:
a. What justifies commitment and persistence?
b. Passion without discipline will not bring wisdom.
c. Discipline without passion will not give us joy.
Possibility of
joy— deep emotion of the soul
Video clip: Bobby Kennedy [quoting George
Bernard Shaw]:
“Some men see things as they are, and say 'Why?'
I
dream of things that never were and say, 'Why not?'”
Leadership:
Don Quixote's lesson for leadership is akin to Lao
Tzu's advice for the ruler: "The reason the river is the lord of ten
thousand mountain streams is because it knows how to remain beneath them."
Thus the ruler places himself not at the mountaintop but below in the
marketplace so as to serve his people better.
The Tuskegee Airmen
A Study in Group Leadership and Nonverbal Communications
FINAL EXAM
Summer 2015 TRI-C
This final is to be submitted in class no later than July 12, 2015
All papers are to be double spaced and printed using
Microsoft Word. Illustrations, charts, and graphs may be used and are
encouraged, but will not count as part of the 750 word requirement. The text
students write is to be pertinent to the question; words comprising your name
and address and other "filler" like repeating the question or describing your
personal experiences will not count at part of the 750 word requirement. This
final exam consists of two 750 word essay questions. Question One is required. Then select either question
2 or 3.
Essay Question One: From the list of the heroes of peace
mentioned at
http://www.modelingfutureheroes.com/Famous%20Peace%20Heroes.htm -
research one of these leader’s accomplishments and
write a 750+ word paper describing the similarities between his/her problem-solving techniques and those of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Pay particular attention to describing how the value system was used by both the
Tuskegee Airmen and your selected hero.
Essay Question Two: Write a 750 word paper
describing how the Tuskegee Airmen's non-verbal communications spoke louder than
their verbal and written communications. Be very specific giving clear examples
from your text and/or from class lectures.
Essay Question Three: Write a 750 word paper
researching how the problem-solving methods of slaves (the Tuskegee Airmen's
grandparents) and how their conflict-resolution techniques might have proven beneficial
to the Tuskegee Airmen. This will require additional research other than the
material presented in class.
