This is a reading, writing, speaking, and listening course that presents the skills and methods of critical thinking as a way to explore and evaluate ideas. Formative skills such as distinguishing fact and opinion, making inferences, detecting biases, reasoning inductively and deductively, and spotting logical fallacies are introduced sequentially, then applied to analyzing and evaluating selected readings. Stress is also placed on having students develop greater confidence in their ability to make rational choices about political, moral, and social issues. (Fulfills Humanities requirement)