The topic of discussion will be known a least a week ahead of time, so people may prepare, but only if they want to. Still, we would have a better discussion if we shared some common background material. This blog will be used to allow members to recommend articles or videos pertinent to the topic of the week. Online material would be the easiest to access, but traditional media can also be referenced.
When a topic has sufficient interest, it will be given a blog page with its subtopics and background references. Members may suggest more subtopics and background references. The amount of activity on a topic's page, will help to determine when it should be scheduled for discussion.
In the Current Events Blog, a TED video was posted as an addendum to the discussion we had. Since we would now know the topic in advance, a TED video could serve as common background material that would hopefully stimulate discussion.
Since the most accessible information is on the web, the ability to gather information will depend on familiarity with Internet tools. Our discussion group is not a competition of ideas. Our goal is to help each other learn about better ways to be informed. In our first meeting, we might allocate time to discuss the information resources available on the web. What do you think?
In the next blog post, I will give an example of a topic page. The topic will be one of the first tier topics listed on the "First Cut" blog post. I will try to pick the topic that seems to have the most interest based on the comments I receive. This selection is just for the example; we will not start scheduling topics until our first meeting.
New suggestions for topic:
ReplyDeleteMajors:
Why do some people major in/work in the liberal arts, the social sciences, the hard sciences? I have found some scientists who also are talented in music or something like that but not as many musicians, etc., who have a science as an avocation (other than astronomy or birdwatching). Does a certain major change one?
Abortions:
Why is an abortion a private matter between a woman and her doctor? Why not just hers alone? or hers and her male's? How do men feel about being left out of the decision?
Life lessons:
What advice would you give your grandchild? What do you regret doing or not doing? Has your pride gotten in the way of anything (not too personal)? What would you do differently/the same? Do you wish you had lived in another time, even by 10 years?