The ICOS Course

INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMITTEE ON ORGANIZATIONAL STUDIES SEMINAR SERIES

SI 311 & 702, MO 840, PSYCH 803, SOC 895

Co-Directors:
Jim Westphal, RSB Strategy and Erin Cech, LSA Sociology

Overview

This course revolves around seminars presented through ICOS. ICOS, or the Interdisciplinary Committee on Organizational Studies, has the single goal of enhancing the University of Michigan’s strength as a world center for interdisciplinary scholarship on organizations. ICOS has existed at U-M for over three decades. For most of this time, it has hosted a Friday afternoon seminar series that brings in scholars from diverse disciplines to speak on topics relevant to organizations and organizing. “Organizations and organizing” is a big tent: in recent semesters, topics have included stereotyping, emotional intelligence, financial regulation, economic diversity, sexual harassment, American symphony orchestras, scientific innovation, customer incivility, leadership, patents, biotech clusters, racial code-switching, and the gig economy.

Course Credit

All members of the U-M community are welcome to attend ICOS seminars, whether or not they are enrolled in the course. But students have the option of enrolling in ICOS for course credit. Two different credit options are available:

The 1-credit version of the ICOS course, offered pass/fail, is available to doctoral students, masters students, and undergraduates with senior standing. It requires:

  • attending the weekly seminar in person
  • completing the weekly readings
  • generating 2-3 discussion questions for each seminar, informed by the readings

The 3-credit version of the ICOS course, taken for a letter grade, is available to doctoral students only. It requires:

  • attending the weekly seminar in person
  • completing the weekly readings
  • generating 2-3 discussion questions for each seminar, informed by the readings
  • writing a substantial paper on an organizational topic (10-15 pages)

Final Paper

For the paper required of 3-credit students: students typically use this option to work on a literature review for their dissertation, to generate a substantial research proposal, or to explore an organizational topic that would benefit from guidance by ICOS faculty. The instructors are flexible about the topic and focus on this paper, but it should have something to do with organizations or organizing. Instructors are happy to chat with students about paper ideas, progress, or other questions at any point in the semester. The paper cannot be used for any other course.

Questions or Concerns

Feel free to chat with the instructors right before or after any seminar.