Welcome to Global Citizens!

This a “4-skills” class that focuses on “Global Issues” and what we can and should do about them.

What is a global citizen?

Citizen: not a subject or an employee, but a free person who can decide with is best.

Global: not just concerned about what happens in your native country, but also what is happening around the world.

Why? Some problems are too big for any one country to solve. For some things, “we are all in it together”, like it or not.

Course Work

Global Issues (40 pts)

We will look at eight Global Issues (via TED Talks) and I will ask you to reflect with a partner on the ideas presented in the talk through a series of questions. You will then write your individual responses in English and post them on this website. (Each talk’s response will be worth 5 points.) Perfect English is not necessary, but thoughtful ideas are!

These are the typical questions I will ask you to think about:

1. Subject Matter: What was this talk about?
2. Main Idea: What did the presenter say about the subject matter?
3. Supporting Details: What evidence did the presentation give?
4. Conclusions: What was the “call to action”?
5. Your Evaluation: Are the ideas in the presentation important/correct? Why or why not?
6. Your Evaluation 2: What made the presentation effective ( or not)?
7. Your Questions: What questions do you have about this subject matter?

 

 

Study Country Presentation (30 pts)

Each student will pick a “study country” to investigate and make a short (5 to 7 minutes) presentation about. You will use data from GapMinder World to compare  your study country to your home country.

Global Issue “SPSE” Presentation (30 pts)

The final presentation will be about a specific global issue and a specific program or idea to address this issue. You will give a short presentation (7 to 10 minutes) that covers the Situation, Problem, Solution and Evaluation of the program or idea.

Attendance

I know students are very busy so I am flexible about due dates. If you finish everything by the 16th class, you are okay. But do let me know if you are going to miss a presentation day.

Schedule

 

1. Intro & Hans Rosling
2. Climate Change
3. Nuclear Weapons
4. Energy & Resource (Carbon Footprint) Nuke Debate
5. Refugee / Migration
6. Intro Study Country Presentation
7. Workshop
8. Presentation 1
9. Pacific Garbage Patch
10. Inequality
11. Human Trafficking
12. Intro SPSE Presentation
13. Workshop
14. Workshop
15. Presentation 2
16. Reflection Day

(Note: schedule may change depending on class size or other factors)