CGW4U – September 4th, 2012

Evaluation (Formative (70%) – seminars, essays, oral discussions, assignments, tests) Summative (30%) – ISU, midterm exam, final exam) Academic Dishonesty Due dates/late policy ISU Textbooks

mrwestgate.weebly.com All course material will be accessible from this website. This includes lessons, assignments, due dates, schedules,important resources and announcements. It is your responsibility to visit this site on a regular basis! If you notice any problems with the website (ie: downloading assignments), please notify me immediately. brad.westgate@ucdsb.on.ca

Why did you take CGW4U? You hate math and science courses? You needed another 4U course, and since Russell HS is relatively small, there weren’t many other options? You are interested in learning more about important social, economic, political and environmental issues that affect us either directly or indirectly on a daily basis?

Tips for succeeding in CGW4U... Stay informed! Respect academic due dates. Participate in class discussions, whenever possible Ask questions! Don’t break the projector!

Why stay informed? The more widely we observe the world around us, the more critically and intelligently we can discuss it. Reading newspapers and magazines, watching TV and internet-based webcasts, from a variety of sources, will allow you to develop a better understanding of the key global issues that are affecting our country on an international scale. Challenges to staying informed about global issues??

Are we addicted to social media?

Facebook and Twitter can be excellent tools with regard to communication and sharing information in a rapid manner. However, we must ensure that they are used properly. As a student in this Canadian and World Issues course, you will be challenged to think outside our your current “bubble”. What does that mean?

This type of bubble?

Living in a “bubble” is a figurative reference pertaining to how we tend not to move away from our social and cultural comfort zones. For instance, an example would be the relatively quiet, suburban neighbourhood of Russell, Ont. Relatively low crime rate, low poverty rate, high standard of living, access to a variety of recreational opportunities etc. Does this make sense?

Perspective Two arguments are given by students as to why world issues are not of great concern: A) I am really unaware of the problem; how does it really affect me? There is too much mixed information being presented by the media. B) What can I do? I am just one person and the issues are too great. I can’t change the world.

These are two very good arguments These are two very good arguments. We are very fortunate to be living in this part of the world. In many instances, we have more than we need. Most of the world issues involve countries and people that are far away, places with which we think we will never have contact. For example, war and hunger are things with which we cannot relate.

Did you know that most of the issues in the world have been created or caused by OUR part of the world? We are directly or indirectly responsible. Who has all the wealth? Who controls the world economy? Who has the military might and produces the world’s weapons? Who has most of the food? Is it a 'good for us, too bad for them' situation? The Haves versus the Have Nots!

Current Event Presentations With a partner, you will be required to present the key news events and world issues for a given week this semester. Therefore it is important that you stay aware of what is happening around us! These presentations will be vital in the development of informed, and intelligent classroom discussions. If you are unaware of what is occurring, you will be unable to participate, and this will adversely affect your grade.

Activity... In groups of 4, create a list of five current world issues that you think are the most important today. Be prepared to explain why, as these lists will be shared among the rest of the class.