December 13

Social 30-1

We watched a video called "Unconstitutional" for part of the period today, which looked at the American response to 9/11 and the passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, and the legal, political and moral implications of this act. While you watched this video you were to complete a video study with relevant questions. If you missed today's class, I will be sending you the film study by e-mail. You can find this video on Google Video and I believe YouTube as well. In all likelihood, it's probably split into several parts. We didn't watch the entire video we stopped about 10-15 minutes after they looked at Guantanamo Bay detainees. Please see this link from the Washington Post on the issue of the detainees at Guantanamo. This source is from January 2010 (so it's a little dated), but you can see the scope of the issue, the release of the detainees and the issues that it brings up (what charges should be levelled against them? Where should the trials take place?). Think about the controversy surrounding what to do with Omar Khadr. I also gave you a couple of handouts as well today that looked at the Patriot Act (one from the ACLU, and the other a short debate between former Attorney General John Ashcroft and Senator Russell Feingold from Wisconsin). I also gave you some brief notes on the Anti-Terrorism Act. Please remember that your Chapter 10 Test is tomorrow, please see the study guide here.

Social 20-1

We spent a great deal of time today looking at contemporary global issues and whether or not internationalism was the most effective approach to dealing with these issues. We had some full class brainstorming, and small group discussions centered around the following questions:
1. What are some contemporary global issues?
2. How do we currently deal with these global issues? What international organizations deal with these issues?
3. Can the effectiveness of international organizations in dealing with these contemporary global issues be criticized? If so, what are some of these criticisms?
4. What are some of the strengths of these international organizations in dealing with these contemporary global issues?

Hopefully these discussions will help you think about the effectiveness of international organizations and internationalism. I gave you your essay question sheets today as well, and I gave you some time (15-20 minutes) to discuss relevant issues involved, the perspectives of the source, and arguments and potential evidence that could be used in an essay. I will be having tutorial sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday morning. You will be writing your Unit 3 WRA II on Wednesday, be prepared! Start looking at the development of your arguments and evidence tonight!