Lies AND Spies
Instructor: James Harding
Department: English, Linguistics, and Communications
Course Number: FSEM 100E8
CRN: 12712 or 12713
Texts:
Background:
- Jeffery Richelson, A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century ( Oxford, 1997)
- James Olson, Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying (Potomac Books, 2006)
- Graham Greene and Hugh Greene (Ed.), The Spy’s Bedside Book (Bantam, 2008)
Drama:
- Tom Stoppard, Hapgood (Faber and Faber, 1994)
- David Henry Hwang, M. Butteryfly (Plume, 1989)
Fiction:
- G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday: A Nightmare (Penguin, 1990)
- John Buchan, The 39 Steps (Penguin, 2007)
- John Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (Bantam, 1984)
- Daniel Silva, The Kill Artist (Fawcett, 2002)
Film:
- Three Days of the Condor (Paramount, 1975). Dir. Sydney Pollack
- The Lives of Others (Sony Pictures, 2006) Dir. Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Essays:
- J. Kupfer, ‘The Moral Presumption Against Lying’, Review of Metaphysics 36 (1982): 103-126.
- R. M. Chisholm, and T. D. Feehan. ‘The intent to deceive’, Journal of Philosophy 74 (1977): 143-159.
- R. Sorensen, ‘Bald-Faced Lies! Lying Without The Intent To Deceive’, Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 88 (2007): 251-264.
- G. Newey, ‘Political Lying: A Defense’, Public Affairs Quarterly 11 (1997): 93-116.
Rationale: Using a broad definition of performance and theatre as a model for understanding the clandestine activities associated with espionage, this course explores the moral and ethical boundaries of what society deems to be “acceptable deception.” In one respect, the course looks at this realm of “acceptable deception” by considering the art of espionage – although within the context of our inquiries “art” does not solely refer to technique (as in the techniques of espionage). It also refers to art itself as a realm of socially “acceptable deception,” which, among other things, includes the calculated illusions of theatre and the deliberate fabrications of fictional literary narratives. Like espionage, where deception and lies are justified as the means to a greater end, so too do the performing and literary arts justify their deceptions and lies as the means to larger truths. While differences between the world of espionage and the world of art abound, we will focus our attention on the sites where the two intersect. At that crossroad, we will consider what these two worlds have to say to each other as well as what in tandem the two have to say to us about what is acceptable and unacceptable about deception and lies.
Assignments, Objectives, and Assessment:
Attendance: Since this class is premised upon you taking an active role, frequent absences are unacceptable. Indeed, they will keep you from meeting the basic requirements for passing the course. With five absences your final grade will drop one full letter grade. With six or more or more, you will not have met the basic requirements of the course, and hence will not be able to pass the course.
Quizzes: In order to encourage you to keep abreast of the reading assignments, we will have frequent quizzes. These quizzes will focus primarily on the dramas that we read and will be content-oriented. They will consist of up to 5 short answer questions. They will be given at the beginning of class, and there are no make-up quizzes. Please keep in mind that I use these quizzes to keep track of attendance, so you always need to turn in a card even if you do poorly on the quiz. By taking the quiz, you agree to stay for the entire class. It is not permissible to take a quiz and then leave. You will need a package of 3 by 5 cards for the quizzes.
Individual Presentations: Three times during the semester, you will be required to give individual presentations that provide a critical, historical or scholarly context for the dramatic literary work that we are reading during the week in which your presentation occurs. For these presentations, you will work with articles that I assign to you and to two other members of the class. The presentations should be based upon a three to three and a half page type written paper (double-spaced and in 12p font) that you turn in at the end of class. Your basic assignment is to coordinate the information in the article with the background material that we have been reading on the history and ethics of espionage, and then to use both as a tool for interpreting the literary text that we have been reading that week, an interpretation that uses this material to flesh out the moral, ethical and political issues that might otherwise not be visible in the literary work that the class has been reading at the time of your presentation.
The presentations should be 6 - 8 minutes in length. You will be graded on the following criteria: 1) the extent to which your presentation moves beyond mere summary of the secondary material into an original analysis; 2) the effectiveness of your efforts to use the secondary material to illuminate the material we as a class have read; 3) your use of specific passages and arguments from the assigned article and the literary work; 4) the accessibility and clarity of your presentation as a speech. 5) and the extent to which you meet the time requirements of the assignment.
Critical Responses: When I assign an article for an individual presentation, I will also assign the same article to two other members of the class, who in preparation for their classmate’s presentation will also read the article. It will be their responsibility to serve as respondents to their classmate’s presentation. This assignment has two parts. First, in preparation for your classmate’s presentation, you will need to read the article, and then prepare a type written paragraph of 200 to 225 words in which you state roughly how you would use the article to develop an interpretation of the literary work that we have been reading that week. Second, during your classmate’s presentation you will take notes, and then write on your paper: 1) What you consider to be your classmate’s most insightful use of the article and why; 2) How you would coordinate your proposed use of the article with the work that your classmate did and what you think the value of that coordination would be (in terms of the insights that it would yield). Over the course of the semester, you will serve as a respondent six times.
You will be graded on the following criteria: 1) the extent to which your paragraph demonstrates actual knowledge of the article; 2) the extent to which your proposed use of the article is plausible and is not superficial; 3) the perceptiveness of your assessment of your classmate’s presentation; 4) you ability to coordinate your own proposed use of the article with the ideas presented by your classmate.
Exams: There will be two midterms and a final exam
Participation: At every level, participation is a fundamental part of the course. First of all, participation means taking responsibility for the frequent presentations that will be required of you in the course, keeping track of the dates for your presentations and being well prepared for the presentations. But beyond the formal presentations, participation means taking an active role in the group work and in the general discussions. Indeed, you must also be attentive enough to the work presented by your fellow classmates that you, in turn, can offer serious discussion of the points that others have raised in their presentations. Acceptable work here will earn you a “C” in participation. Higher grades, particularly those in the “B+” to “A” range are given only to those who make exceptional and superior contributions to the class.
Grades:
- 10% - Quizzes
- 30% - Individual Presentations
- 20% - Critical Responses
- 30% - Exams (3 X 10%)
- 10% - Participation
Calendar:
Week 1 Aug 24-28
- Introduction
- Readings:
- J. Kupfer, ‘The Moral Presumption Against Lying’, Review of Metaphysics 36 (1982): 103-126.
- Richelson, A Century of Spies 1-102
Week 2 Aug 31- Sept 4
- Readings:
- R. M. Chisholm, and T. D. Feehan. ‘The intent to deceive’
- Greene and Greene, The Spy’s Bedside Book 1-83
Week 3 Sept 7 - 11
- Presentations: Groups 1 and 2
- Readings:
- Richelson, A Century of Spies 103-214
- Greene and Greene, The Spy’s Bedside Book 85-173
Week 4 Sept 14 - 18
- Presentations: Groups 3 and 4
- Readings:
- Olson Fair Play 1-45
- Greene and Greene, The Spy’s Bedside Book 174-247
- Film: Three Days of the Condor [Evening Viewing]
Week 5 Sept 21 - 25
- Presentations: Groups 5 and 6
- Readings:
- John Buchan, The 39 Steps
- Richelson, A Century of Spies 215-309
Week 6 Sept 28 - Oct 2
- Presentations: Groups 1 and 2
- Readings:
- John Buchan, The 39 Steps
- Richelson, A Century of Spies 310-431
- Midterm Exam
Week 7 Oct. 5 - 9
- Presentations: Group 3
- Readings:
- G. Newey, ‘Political Lying: A Defense’
- Olsen Fair Play 46-100
- G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday
Week 8 Oct 12 - 16
- Fall Break
- Presentation Group 4
- Readings:
- Olsen Fair Play 101-174
- David Henry Hwang, M. Butteryfly
- R. M. Chisholm, and T. D. Feehan. ‘The intent to deceive’
Week 9 Oct 19 - 23
- Presentations: Groups 5 and 6
- Readings:
- Olsen Fair Play 175-228
- Tom Stoppard, Hapgood
- R. Sorensen, ‘Bald-Faced Lies! Lying Without The Intent To Deceive’
Week 10 Oct 26 - 30
- Presentations: Groups 1 and 2
- Reading:
- Olsen Fair Play 229-262
- Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
- Film: The Lives of Others [Evening Viewing]
- Midterm Exam
Week 11 Nov 2 - 6
- Readings:
- Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Week 12 Nov. 9 - 13
- Presentations: Groups 3 and 4
- Readings:
- Le Carre, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold
Week 13 Nov. 16 - 20
- Presentations: Groups 5 and 6
- Readings:
- Silva, The Kill Artist
Week 14 Nov. 23 - 27
- Thanksgiving
- Reading:
- Silva, The Kill Artist
Week 15 Nov 30 – Dec 4
- Readings:
- Silva, The Kill Artist
- Final Exam