Carmela Circelli

carmela.c@rogers.com

Office Location:  S441 Ross Building

(416) 465-0743

Office Hours:  TBA

The general purpose of all the Modes of Reasoning courses is to teach students critical thinking skills, skills which will be valuable not only for academic life, but also for personal and professional life.

Reasoning about Social Issues, in particular, is a skill based, critical thinking course, which also introduces students to research based writing and qualitative and quantitative analysis. The course will teach students the basic reasoning skills, principles and concepts needed to develop a critical sensibility, as well as introduce them to the different types of research used in the social sciences. While the course is wide ranging in its approach, using different kinds of texts and topics and also different media, particular focus will be placed on the various positions taken in the social sciences, on topics such as abortion, euthanasia, pornography, immigration, for example. Students will learn to read, write and listen critically, to develop argumentative, reflective positions of their own, to verbalize those ideas clearly and concisely, orally and in writing, and to apply those skills, principles and concepts to a variety of contemporary social issues.

With Good Reason – S. Morris Engel, 6^th edition
course kit.

mid-term test on fallacies – 20%

test on conceptual analysis – 10%

Essay 1 – 20%

Essay 2 – 20%

Final Essay – 20%

class participation - 10%

The first part of the course will be concerned with learning the skills and techniques of a critical perspective. And the second half will be spent

applying these skills and techniques to issues of social issues.

See general course description