This class will immerse young students into a Socratic Seminar style class, where they will be able to engage in thoughtful discussion, explore ideas, and develop a deeper understanding of the complexity behind these two political ideas.  Socratic Seminars are discussion-based classes where the students answer and ask open-ended questions, explore 'what if' scenarios, and use higher-order thinking skills to evaluate, analyze, and synthesize their own thoughts and responses.  We will cover the topics of dictatorships and Monarchies, their similarities and differences, their global histories, and prospects in the future.  Each class ends up being a uniquely rich discovery in information and personal growth based on the interests of the students and the direction of the discussion.  

Class begins with students introducing themselves, as getting to know each other a little bit makes the students more comfortable sharing their ideas and thoughts during class. I give a short lecture on the main differences at the heart of Dictators and Monarchies and where and how we have seen these ideas take place in the world.  We will take different political topics such as education, coronavirus (and the recent protests), same-sex marriage, gun control, abortion, taxes, affirmative action, physician-assisted suicide, religion, healthcare, the death penalty, global warming, immigration, welfare, etc.  The students select which topics they are most interested in, and we have a mature discussion on how their chosen topics relate to Dictators and Monarchies.