Current Events in Context: Understanding the Big Picture of Today's Headlines

Do you wish you understood the backstory to today’s headlines? Then this is the class for you! 

Each week, we will consider different news events, taken from media sources like The New York Times, The Economist, BBC, Foreign Policy, Reuters, the Associated Press, and others. After an overview of each event, we will discuss the bigger picture. We look at maps, graphs, and charts. We ask questions like what may have led to the event? Are there additional diplomatic, social, economic, or political aspects to the event? What are possible connections? This lecture and discussion-based class is a fascinating combination of history, politics, economics, sociology, critical thinking, media analysis and more. Student interaction in encouraged; the more a student puts into the class, the more they will take away.

Students will regularly be provided with additional information after class to allow additional in-depth exploration of issues touched on in class.