Instruction
Choose from any important issue related to either the COVID pandemic or the last several weeks of racial justice protests. Keep in mind, there are many issues from which to narrow your focus. Instead of discussing either issue broadly, you can choose to examine a more detailed part of the story. For example, maybe something about the bizarre controversy over wearing masks, the misinformation about the disease itself, the economic devastation wrought by the shutdowns, the disparities that exist in terms of who is at most risk and why…or maybe something about the culture of policing, the “racial reckoning” that has been ongoing for weeks now, the “defund the police” demands, or how viral videos about both police and citizen/Karen-type profiling has helped shift the conversation so dramatically.
These are just suggestions. You have wide latitude with which to get into your topic. But remember, the goal is to explain what makes a good critical thinker (as you detailed briefly four weeks ago in YOUR FIRST TASK).
So, how would you break down this issue? What are the questions that you would raise? What are the biases that emerge? Anything peculiar about the way (or reason) the media has covered this story? How might it be received by audiences stuck in their echo chambers? Is the issue presented with or without proper context? Are certain fallacies being deployed, and if so, for what reasons? Can you read between the lines on anything being said or not being said? What other of the skills can you use to help us understand what’s going on here? Basically, I want you to teach a lesson on critical thinking that comes from your observations about any or all aspects of the story/issue that you choose.