Last week - in both 2305 and 2306 - we went through the syllabus and the first section of the class which tried to explain why the state of Texas has required you to take 6 hours of government. I tried to point out the role education has always been argued to play in the preservation of democratic republics.
Maybe that worked, maybe it didn't. Hopefully it addressed any concerns or complaints you have about the government requirement. I'll continue to post stories related to how government should be taught - it tend to be the subject of ideological battles.
I didn't walk through the section on definitions and vocabulary - you ought to be able to do so yourself. I'll point out the specific terms that are useful currently. I posted a few stories on the continued struggles in the Middles East and the questions about whether these traditionally autocratic governments might be able to transition into democracies. Those are two of the terms contained in the second section.
I think the post on Jeanne Kirkpatrick's 1979 column critical of Carter's foreign policy - and what she had to say about the difficulty of establishing democracies - might be the most important post of last week.
It seems like most of you were able to send me a hello through Blackboard and a good handful also got the first two assessments out of the way.
Classes resume tomorrow.
Enjoy your Labor Day.
