This short essay along with workshop materials outlines constructive ways for Humanities teachers to stimulate discussions on religion. The activities and procedures are based on the author's own experience and philosophy. Student centered discussions are effective and less risky for engaging in religious issues. Student discussions also are the…

Describes how a professor teaching a "Writing Arguments" course focused on two cases involving the death penalty to show students how arguments are constructed, and how students can form strong arguments of their own. Notes that this approach does not force students to choose sides when they stand somewhere in the middle. Describes four…

Asserts that raising gender issues in freshman composition courses encourages critical thinking about relevant concerns in students' lives. States also that it is important to let students find the answers to the questions raised. (PRA)

Explores the extent of self-censorship in community college theater programs across the country, and examines what part the college administration plays in such censorship. Suggests reviewing further the theater department's responsibilities in serving both students and community. (AS)

Practitioners at all levels of education have begun to recognize that addressing the complex social and environmental problems of the future will require individuals capable of reflective and critical thought. Critical thinking has been defined as utilizing a number of cognitive processes and attitudes that undergird intelligent action in diverse…

This paper identifies five difficulties in teaching the analysis of social problems, and proffers "mind maps," a concept that refers to the ways in which students create a visual representation of their thinking patterns, as a possible solution. In constructing mind maps, especially for a Social Problems course, the following four steps…

Current media--films, videos, television programs, advertising in both print and television, and newspaper and magazine articles--can be successfully employed in college literature and composition classes, enhancing the learning environment by involving those students who might otherwise show disinterest. For example, a unit on pornography,…

In the fifties and early sixties, United States colleges and universities shied away from courses about communist insurgencies because of the repressive influence of McCarthyism. Vietnam was eliminated from classroom investigation, forcing students to take the issues to the streets. In an effort to expose and examine issues that arose from the…

As part of a federal grant to develop an across-the-curriculum ethics program, ethics instruction was integrated into English classes at Colorado's Community College of Aurora (CCA). In the English classes, students were first asked to read case studies from CCA's ethics handbook detailing specific ethical problems. In subsequent classes, students…

The library at Phoenix College developed the Controversial Issues Files (CIF), a "home made" card file containing references pertinent to specific ongoing assignments. Although the CIF had proven itself to be an excellent resource tool for beginning researchers, it was cumbersome to maintain in the card format, and was limited to very…