Becoming news literate is incredibly important in our modern day democracies. The headlines pull our national conversation and attention. But, beyond the biggest headlines of the week are often important stories and events that affect us in unseen ways. This class comes to you from an international human rights lawyer and news junkie. It aims to pull one news story each week that has not necessarily made the front page but the context of which helps us to critically understand the world around us. 

For example, while the headlines may be showing us important stories of political indictments or conflict between Russia and Ukraine, other stories such as a coup in Niger which is backed by different factions reminiscent of Cold War politics, or a U.S. ban on selling semi-conductors in China might go by the wayside, even though they are critical to understanding our world and geopolitics today. 

Each week one important story will be chosen to dig deeply into, adding context and discussion. By the end of each class, learners will have deeper knowledge of an impactful current event and the critical analysis tools to understand the event in the larger global context. When engaging in this class over a longer period of time, learners will recognize how to look more fully at the news, not only at the headlines which media outlets choose for us. They will be able to identify how large and small pieces of news connect to each other to create a deeper understanding of the geopolitical landscape of today.