This course is a one-semester course designed to help students improve their critical reading skills through readings and group discussions, to improve their academic literacy, and to expand their general knowledge on social issues. Students will read a variety of texts, and listen to some texts being delivered orally, in order to improve their analytical and evaluative skills.

Students will expand their knowledge in the following areas: critical evaluation and analysis, understanding argumentative and persuasive strategies in texts, and understanding rhetorical and composition strategies. The emphasis in this course will be on understanding social issues at global, regional and local levels through texts and talks.