Great Scots:

Psychological Perspectives on Scottish History and Leadership

Drs. David Cross & Nowell Donovan

Texas Christian University

In this course (PSYC 40950) we use our summer travels to Edinburgh and Scotland to gain a deeper appreciation of Scottish history and leadership. Our approach is experiential in that students will have the opportunity to explore the abbeys, castles, towns, and battlefields where Scottish history was made. Our approach is psychological in that these investigations are framed by psychological perspectives on leadership.

Six Constants of Leadership

Although there are several good books on leadership, we will adopt the cognitive-developmental framework of Howard Gardner, most completely described in his Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership (1995, Basic Books). The core of his approach is a set of six constants that collectively define effective leadership. These constants are listed below, and will provide the primary intellectual framework for investigating the great leaders of Scottish history.

• The Story: In order to be effective, the leader must articulate and communicate a message, or story, to his or her audience.
• The Audience: In order for the leader to be effective, the audience must be able to understand, and be responsive, to the leader's story.
• The Organization: In order for the leader to be effective, he or she must create or shape an organization; very often the leader will rely on an inner circle of close associates who are instrumental to the communication and implementation of the leader's policies .
• The Embodiment: In order for the leader to be effective, he or she must be credible, that is, they must embody the central themes of their story.
• Direct and Indirect Leadership: There are two broad categories of leadership:
  • Direct Leadership: What we normally think of when we think of leaders, including generals, presidents, kings, and queens.
  • Indirect Leadership: Another form of leadership where the leader exerts his or her influence indirectly, such as is the case with scientists, writers, and artists.
• The Issue of Expertise: Expertise is most obviously relevant in the case of indirect leadership, where the leader must be an expert in his or her field in order to exert influence; but expertise of other kinds is relevant for direct leadership (e.g. military skill or oratorical excellence).

Scottish History and Leadership

Scotland has given us more than her share of great leaders, and one is forced to choose among the many candidates. Some of the more romantic figures of Scottish history, including Mary Queen of Scots and "Bonnie" Prince Charlie, were in fact unimpressive as leaders, and for this reason have been left off of our list. When choosing leaders we used three criteria: (a) they should be good "role models" — the kinds of persons who we would want to model our own lives after, (b) they should lend themselves to an insightful analysis of leadership, especially in regards to the leadership constants, listed above, and (c) they should correspond geographically to our travels, so that we can benefit from education "in situ". At present, our list contains eight "Great Scots", ranging from St Columba to Sir Walter Scott. Their names in the table below are links to our webpages about each of the major leaders and their historical context (this site is still under construction, so additions and modifications are to be expected).

Schedule of Presentations

Leader	Location	Trip (Prof & Date)
Saint Columba	Iona Abbey	Highland Field Trip (DRC: 7/13)
David I, "the Saint"	St Margaret's Chapel	Edinburgh Castle (DRC: 7/10)
Robert the Bruce	Stirling Castle	Stirling Field Trip (DRC: 7/19)
John Knox	Knox House	Edinburgh (RND: 7/18)
James VI	Holyrood Palace	Edinburgh (RND: 7/27)
James Graham, Earl of Montrose	Greyfriar's Kirk	Edinburgh (RND: 7/11)
William Robertson	Old College	Edinburgh (DRC: 7/21)
Sir Walter Scott	Dryburgh Abbey	Borders Field Trip (RND: 7/20)

Note: The above webpages are still under construction.

Textbooks

Although there are several good texts on Scottish history, we will use Nigel Tranter's The Story of Scotland, because it is written for the non-historian. (While in Scotland, we recommend that you obtain a copy of Michael Lynch's Scotland: A New History, and excellent, authoritative, and one-volume history of Scotland — it would make an excellent reference upon return from Scotland.) In addition to Gardner's text, you may want to use Dean Keith Simonton's Greatness: Who Makes History and Why as a resource text on leadership. All in all there are four textbooks for the course:

	Gardner, H. (1995). Leading Minds: An Anatomy of Leadership. New York: Basic Books. [Required, all students should own this one.]
	Simonton, D. K. (1994). Greatness: Who Makes History and Why. New York: The Guilford Press. [Recommended, but this provides perspectives very different from Gardner's.]
	Tranter, N. (1987). The Story of Scotland. Glasgow: Neil Wilson Publishing. [Required, all students should own this one.]
	Lynch, M. (1992). Scotland: A New History. London: PIMLICO. [Recommended, but this is an excellent one-volume resource on Scottish history.]

Students in this course will definitely want to read from Nowell Donovan's Day-to-Day Itinerary and The Search for Genius, both written exclusively for TCU-in-Scotland: The Search for Genius. You will either receive your copies in the mail, or when you arrive in Edinburgh.

Course Requirements

There are requirements associated with the course. One must be completed before leaving for Scotland, two will be completed while in Scotland, and the final two will be completed upon return from Scotland.

Before Leaving for Scotland

1. Complete the major reading assignments, which are as follows:
   1. Read chapters 1–3, 8, 9, 12, 13, and 15 in Leading Minds.
   2. Read all of the chapters in The Story of Scotland.
   3. Read as much as you can from chapters 1, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 11–13 in Greatness.

   While in Scotland

2. Active, informed participation in seminars and field trips while in Scotland (your participation will be a major way that we use to evaluate your reading and comprehension of the text material; 30% of the final grade).
3. Keep a journal of your thoughts and our discussions while in Scotland; I will ask to see this periodically while we are in Scotland; 20% of the final grade.

   Upon Return from Scotland

4. A notebook-scrapbook based on the trip to Scotland (use the same timetable as the paper; 20% of the final grade).
5. A major leadership paper (12-15 pages) due by the Christmas break; successful completion of the paper will involve extensive library research, and least one rewrite; 30% of the final grade.

Return to TCU-in-Scotland