Leadership Stories: Literature, Ethics, and Authority

Infographic listing reasons why we tell stories: to teach, to learn, to share information, to connect, to make things stick.

In the context of leadership, stories help us move forward together. (Courtesy of bgblogging on Flickr. License CC BY-NC-SA.)

Instructor(s)

MIT Course Number

15.269

As Taught In

Fall 2015

Level

Graduate

Cite This Course

Course Description

Course Features

Course Description

This course explores how we use story to articulate ethical norms. The syllabus consists of short fiction, novels, plays, feature films and some non-fiction. Major topics include leadership and authority, professionalism, the nature of ethical standards, social enterprise, and questions of gender, cultural and individual identity, and work / life balance. Materials vary from year to year, but past readings have included work by Robert Bolt, Michael Frayn, Timothy Mo, Wole Soyinka, H. D. Thoreau, and others; films have included Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hotel Rwanda, The Descendants, Motorcycle Diaries, Three Kings, and others. Draws on various professions and national cultures, and is run as a series of moderated discussions, with students centrally engaged in the teaching process.

Other Versions

Related Content

Leigh Hafrey. 15.269 Leadership Stories: Literature, Ethics, and Authority. Fall 2015. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.


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