Contemporary Issues

The Contemporary Issues (semester) course challenges students to examine how world problems and contemporary issues are defined and managed. Students analyze governments, economies, peoples, and cultures from around the world.  Issues of study include human rights, strengths and weaknesses of globalization, America's role in the international economy, severe environmental threats facing world regions, influences and interpretations of religious beliefs to facilitate and justify violence, the War on Terror, and its impact on the Middle East and Islamic culture. This course requires students to apply critical thinking, research, and data interpretation skills to define, examine, and explain current events. Course Note: This course fulfills the Social Studies Elective (.5) requirement.