To introduce, understand, and examine the Fermi Paradox and the search for extraterrestrial life and civilization. 
To understand the different categories of proposed solutions to the paradox. 
To identify and compare depictions of 'first contact' in pop culture and sci-fi literature.

I have a Ph.D. in International Studies and several years experience teaching undergraduate political science courses at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. I also have a lifelong obsession with the Fermi Paradox and am currently completing the final edits of the first novel in a comedic first-contact sci-fi trilogy. Additionally, as a social scientist, I will leverage the topic of pseudoscientific UFO conspiracy theories to demonstrate the need for critical thinking and a scientific approach to open questions.

Regarding the Fermi Paradox itself:
Stephen Webb, If the Universe Is Teeming with Aliens ... WHERE IS EVERYBODY?: Seventy-Five Solutions to the Fermi Paradox and the Problem of Extraterrestrial Life 2nd ed. 2015 Edition.

First contact sci-fi literature, short stories and short novels:
Arthur C. Clarke, Childhood’s End
Ted Chang, The Story of Your Life
H.G. Wells, War of the Worlds