Students will learn to examine current events critically, looking at the historical context behind the latest news. I employ the Socratic method and will have students in later classes research and present on topics they have an interest in.   

As required by Outschool regarding I have significant expertise in conflict resolution and mediation. I have received mediation training as part of my legal degree and receive continuing education training in both mediation and conflict resolution to retain my legal licensure. I have participated in several mediations and alternative dispute resolution proceedings. I have provided training in conflict resolution and de-escalation at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. In 2020 I co-taught a class on mediation at the Univerity of Maryland, School of Social Work.  

This class will use various news and historical sources to create and stimulate class discussion. Sources used to address current events topics will be from multiple perspectives and showcase different views. Source material will be used by the instructor to present facts related to current events topics, with the presentation focused on the "who, what, where, and when" of the event.   

News sources used to prepare current events presentations may include popular news sources from varied news outlets. Historical sources relating to the historical view of the topic will include  (but are not limited to) original source material, articles, and educational material from:

Media Literacy Now
Media Literacy Learning Clearing House 
The National Archives 
The Smithsonian 
USA.Gov
The United States State Department 
Westlaw
JSTOR