Reading to Connect III: Making Impacts

Course Description

Reading skills and strategies are extremely important and helpful for increasing reading efficiency. However, acquiring reading skills and strategies is not just about the intake of information; the acquisition is just the first step. What comes next is even more important. Informed readers avail themselves of what they learn through reading to develop their own opinions or stances on a topic and have a dialogue with others.

The purpose of this course is for students to apply reading skills and strategies to researching current event topics, developing their own opinions and positions based on their research, and constructing, analyzing, and delivering arguments in a structured format. Students will research a variety of current events, with an emphasis on analyzing the multiple sides or opinions related to these events. Students will then be instructed on how to communicate arguments to a specific audience and to defend those arguments when challenged.

This course will cover a variety of current events that students will find interesting and relevant. These events address social, cultural, and political issues, most of which  cover controversial topics, such as warfare and pornography. Not only will these issues increase students’ awareness of current events, but they will serve as a backdrop to engage students in learning more about these events and to develop and defend their own opinions.

Course Objectives

Core Competencies (CC)

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate

CC 1:  independent judgment and ability to innovate
CC 2:  professional knowledge and skills
CC 3:  communicative and team skills

Course Objective—Course Intended Learning Outcome (CILO)

Upon completion of the course, students will be able to

Weekly Schedule

Others

**英文程度為CEFR B2, TOEIC 785, TOEFL iBT 72, IELTS 6.5（或以上） **

(English Language Proficiency: CEFR B2, TOEIC 785, TOEFL iBT 72, IELTS 6.5 or above)

1.     Active participation in class is required.
2.     No more than 3 absences are permitted.
3.     No late assignment will be accepted.

一、Required Reading  (Please list the reading on a weekly basis)

Texts used in this course:

• Becker, H. S. (1953). Becoming a Marijuana User. American Journal of Sociology, pp. 235-242.-       Dworkin, A. (March 6, 1993). Pornography Happens to Women. Speech presented at Speech, Equality and Harm: Feminist Legal Perspectives on Pornography and Hate Propaganda.
• McElroy, W. Banning Pornography Endangers Women. ISIL Educational Pamphlet        series. Benicia, CA: International Society for Individual Liberty.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (2001). Marijuana: Facts for Teens. Department of Health Republic of South Africa Directorate: Mental Health and Substance Abuse.
• Papademetriou, D. (2020). Managing the Pandemic and its Aftermath: Economy, Jobs, and International Migration in the Age of COVID-19. Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.
• Rey, J. M., & Christopher C. T. (2002). Cannabis and Mental Health. British Medical Journal, pp. 1183-4. doi: 10.1136/bmj.325.7374.1183.

Books used in this course:

• Barnet, S., Bedau, H. A., & O’Hara, J. (2020). Current issues and enduring questions: A guide to critical thinking and argument, with readings. Bedford/St. Martins.
• Morrow, D. R., & Weston, A. (2019). A workbook for arguments: A complete course in critical thinking. Hackett Publishing Company.

二、Extended Readings (Please list the reading on a weekly basis)

In addition to assigned readings, students will be responsible for researching and finding texts related to each current event topic.

Grading and Assessment