Lowry   

The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County is partnering with Jefferson County Public Library to offer a series of workshops on media misinformation/disinformation and how media is polarizing the country. We're using the book "True or False: A CIA Analyst's Guide to Spotting Fake News" by Cindy L. Otis as the basis for the workshops and modeling them on the Great Decisions format.

Workshops include:

• Week One: The evolution of media and recent changes brought by deregulation and technology
• Week Two: How to recognize and combat bias in ourselves and the media
• Week Three: How to spot and avoid "fake news" and begin to bridge the political divide
• Week Four: The dangers of AI
• Week Five: A panel discussion with local experts to address the dangers of media disinformation and how to combat them

The workshops will include presentations and encourage audience participation through planned activities and discussions.

Recommended Reading: True or False, A CIA Analyst’s Guide to Spotting Fake News, available at the News, available at the library or on Amazon.

Increasing costs and declining public support have many Americans questioning the value of a university education. Meanwhile, colleges and universities face financial crises, while student loan debt, student activism, and diversity programs generate increasingly negative headlines.

This discussion-based course examines the evolution of higher education to better understand issues currently facing U.S. colleges and universities. Together we will explore the evolving purposes of higher education, the reasons for rising costs, the differences between for-profit and nonprofit education, and how college rankings have impacted the sector. We will also investigate the impacts of NIL money, artificial intelligence, diversity programs, and research funding cuts.

Participants will have short articles to read before each session and are encouraged to share their own educational experiences and learn from the perspectives of others.