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04 December 2013

IB Global Politics HL1: Monday

Its finally here-what you’ve been waiting for (apparently…you have nothing better to do?). Below is my set of ideas to get our current events discussions off the ground. I dabbled with the idea of presidential briefings or conducting a shadow UN on Twitter, but in the end I went for the easy. Of course we can do those other two if everyone is on board. In any event, we’ll take a look at this in class on Friday. Until then, please read through this document and please let me know what looks good, what will not work, and/or what’s missing.

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 The Monday Current Events Briefing

Each week, IB Global Politics HL1 will dedicate one day of class time to discuss and analyze contemporary geopolitical affairs. At the start of a previous class period, your table will choose a region at random (names in a hat, deck of cards, rock-paper-scissors-lizard-spock, etc.). Each person at the table will then scour the list of courses (below) to find the most fantabulously interesting article on world politics for the week. As you read it, please  develop a set of notes, an outline, or a set up talking points that addresses each of the following:


  • Summary: Craft a two to three sentence synopsis of your chosen article. 
  • Connection: How are the ideas and information in the article connected to what you already know? How does this article relate to your wider study of global politics?
  • Extension: What new ideas did you encounter that extended or pushed your thinning in new directions? Are you able to answer the “so what?” question for this article?
  • Challenge: What do you still find challenging or confusing for you to get your head around? What questions, wonderings, or puzzles about the topic do you still have?


Each Monday, we’ll open a speakers list for the day. Please note that once you have presented your article, you won’t be able to do so again in a subsequent class until we we have exhausted the speakers list. As you listen to your colleagues discuss their article and analysis, please listen thoughtfully and consider one or two questions that you wish them to address as it relates to world politics. Finally, one speaker each week will be chosen through voting, or lottery, or by arbitrary fiat from the benevolent classroom dictator for the day to post their analysis on the blog. This lucky individual will then choose two of their colleagues to provide their own commentary and insight on the article in the form of comments to the blog post. Our hope is that we can use these briefing sessions to amplify and extend our knowledge of world politics in a discursive and constructive fashion. 

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