Final Analysis

Thank you all for your research, presentations, and peer feedback. We will finish up our class meetings on Friday with final blog posts and general discussion. I will also distribute the peer reviews of presentations so that you can incorporate any feedback you think useful into your final paper. Final analysis papers are due in Turnitin.com through the class Moodle before midnight on 12/12/19.

It's been a pleasure!

Current Events Analysis Presentations

Current Events Analysis Presentations will begin next Monday, following the schedule below. If you have not yet submitted your literature review and copies of sources, please get them to me no later than Wednesday. There is no class on Friday. And no class on Wednesday, November 27th. Have a great Thanksgiving!

1. Hector (M 10/21) Please read "Autonomous technology and the greater human good" before Monday's class and prepare, in writing, a question to pose to Hector. Be prepared for intense discussion.
2. Rita (W 10/23) Please read ""Abloish ICE," explained" before class on Wednesday, and as above, prepare a meaningful question for Rita.
3. Abe (M 10/28) Please read "Three big problems with school ‘choice’ that supporters don’t like to talk about" before class on 10/28. 
4. Brian (W 10/30)
5. Faris (M 11/4) Please read "BDS: how a controversial non-violent movement has transformed the Israeli-Palestinian debate."
6. Garrett (W 11/6) Please read "As Trade War Rages, Cina's Sway Over the U.S. Fades."
7. Jason (M 11/11) Please read "UPDATE: California SB 206 – Collegiate Athletics: Fair Pay to Play Act Moves Forward."
8. David (W 11/13) Please read "No Solution but a Two-State Solution."
9. Trina (M 11/18) Please read "California homelessness face local, legal obstacles."
10. Alexandra (W 11/20) Please read "What Is Brexit?..
11. Olivia (M 11/25) Please read "THC products were involved in many of the vaping-related illness deaths, officials say" and "Wednesday's marijuana legalization vote was truly historic — here's why."
12. Holeva (M 12/2) Please read "Inside a Private Prison: Blood, Suicide and Poorly Paid Guards."

If you haven't submitted all of your presentation reviews, please do so by Monday, 12/2. You may email them to me if you prefer.

Background and Literature Review

Next Monday, your background and literature reviews are due. Here is a link to the video, "How to Write a Literature Review in 30 Minutes or Less," that we watched in class Monday. There's a lot of stuff out there, and your classmates have good experience and insights if you find yourself stuck.

Taking Sides: Is Chaos in the Middle East Largely the Fault of U.S. Policy?

For Monday's class, please tackle this issue as we did with the issue of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, but with more prep and stronger debate. Yes and No, you know who you are.

Your annotated bibliographies, along with copies of your sources, are due in class on Monday as well.

Blog posts are due tonight before midnight.

Taking Sides: Is China Being the Aggressor in the Issue of the Disputed Island in the Pacific Ocean?

For Wednesday class, please read and respond in writing to the "Learning Outcomes" and "Critical Thinking and Reflection" sections of this issue. In addition, you have each been assigned the "Yes" of "No" position to argue in class. You may work together as a team or on your own, but either way, you should be well prepared to support your position (whether you agree with it or not).

Rules for Arguments

For Friday's class, please write up a short (no more than a page long) argument that follows rules 1 through 6 (Chapter I) of A Rulebook for Arguments. You choose the topic. Use a different colored pen from that of the argument to point to your argument's use of the the 6 rules.

Not this.

Taking Sides: Is the UN a Worthwhile Organization?

For Monday's class prepare written responses to the learning outcomes and critical thinking and reflections sections of the Taking Sides issue, "Is the UN a Worthwhile Organization?" I reserve the right to collect your written responses in class. Copies of the textbook are no on reserve in the library.

Taking Sides: Immigrant Children

Thank you for a strong discussion today. I've posted the third Taking Sides issue on the Moodle. Please read it and answer the relevant questions/prompts in writing as you did for the Guantanamo discussion.

Taking Sides: Guantanamo

UPDATE: We will resume discussion of this topic on Monday, 9/9. Written responses must be turned in on Monday.

For Friday's class, please read the chapter of Taking Sides on Guantanamo and bring written responses to the "Learning Outcomes" and "Critical Thinking and Reflection" sections. Make an effort to connect the information in this chapter to today's issues.

I have scanned the chapter and posted it on the Moodle because of textbook delivery issues. I hope that this will be resolved for everyone very soon.

Taking Sides: Russia

For Wednesday's class, please read and reflect on Taking Sides, Unit 1, Issue 1.2, entitled, "Is Russia Being Demonized for Pursuing Its National Interests?" in the 17th edition or "Was Russia’s Intervention in Ukraine the Result of Western Aggression?" in the 18th edition.

I've posted a scan of the chapter on the class Moodle (one-time only) because of the confusion about textbook editions and Amazon Prime failure.

Also read the preface, introduction and first chapter of A Rulebook for Arguments. There is a copy on reserve now in the library.

Where do you get your news?

Here's a handy chart by Patent attorney Vanessa Otero that breaks down news sources by reliability and political viewpoint. What's your take on it? What are you reading?

Before class on Wednesday, please create a blog for this class, and send me the address (URL). In addition, please bring to class the list, however short, of the sources you go to when you want the latest news.

TEXTBOOK UPDATE: There is a new edition of Taking Sides (18th), so if you haven't bought it or rented it already, get the new one (ISBN-13: 978-1259882975). Hector, my apologies!

TEXTBOOK UPDATE UPDATE: Either book will do fine. There is an overlap of nine issues covered by both editions.