Goal for the day: To clarify personal views on the balance between national security and civil liberties
We spent today preparing to seminar on the Patriot Act and First Amendment protections.
I began by showing a video contrasting President Obama talking about civil liberties in 2007 with more recent statements in 2013 after the uproar over the revelation of NSA (National Security Agency collecting phone data and other personal information). Is this video evidence of hypocrisy on Obama’s part or does it simply reflect the fact that he’s adjusted his views based on the information he now has access to as President?
Next, our two focus groups on the Patriot Act (one pro- and one con-) solidified their arguments and presentations. After sharing and clarifying their points for each other, we took a break and then broke down into two groups. Half of the class went into seminar on the essential question “What is the proper balance between national security and civil liberties?” The other half of our class worked in their issue groups doing research on their issue.
This pattern will continue on Thursday and Friday. Thursday we’ll switch with the second group doing seminar and the first doing issue research. On Friday, we’ll also seminar and do issue group work.
Assignment for Thursday, September 18th
None
We spent today preparing to seminar on the Patriot Act and First Amendment protections.
I began by showing a video contrasting President Obama talking about civil liberties in 2007 with more recent statements in 2013 after the uproar over the revelation of NSA (National Security Agency collecting phone data and other personal information). Is this video evidence of hypocrisy on Obama’s part or does it simply reflect the fact that he’s adjusted his views based on the information he now has access to as President?
Next, our two focus groups on the Patriot Act (one pro- and one con-) solidified their arguments and presentations. After sharing and clarifying their points for each other, we took a break and then broke down into two groups. Half of the class went into seminar on the essential question “What is the proper balance between national security and civil liberties?” The other half of our class worked in their issue groups doing research on their issue.
This pattern will continue on Thursday and Friday. Thursday we’ll switch with the second group doing seminar and the first doing issue research. On Friday, we’ll also seminar and do issue group work.
Assignment for Thursday, September 18th
None