Global Issues through Dystopian Literature FOCAL SKILLS AND DISPOSITIONS: Textual Analysis & Interpretation; Developing Cross-Cultural Sensitivity; Developing Empathy. DATE: Dec 1, Feb, 2, March 9 (April 6-- snow day)TIME: 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.LOCATION: Virtual for fall semester; TBD for winter/spring semesterPDPs: 10FEE: Partnership educators - no cost; Non-partnership educators - $150 Environmental crises; racial, ethnic, and religious tensions; political and economic corruption; prejudice and discrimination: students are learning to navigate a world with these conflicts and concerns weighing on them. How can educators prepare students to engage with the world’s most significant issues and become empathetic changemakers? Dystopian literature gives educators and students alike frameworks to discuss some of our world’s most daunting problems through fantastical and emotionally intense reading experiences. This book group will explore social unrest resulting from environmental disaster (in western America), the intersection of technology and revolutionary protests (in the Middle East), and the crisis of conscience that calls us to confront abusive power structures (in South Africa). All with a dose of imagination, allegory, and mystery. Facilitated by a veteran English teacher and global educator, this three-session series is open to all educators who want to talk about global and multicultural books for middle, high school and adult readers. Location chosen with special consideration for teachers and school librarians from the South Shore. Book titles for this series: Dry by Neal Shusterman, Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson, and Waiting for the Barbarians, by J. M. Coetzee Open to all K-12 educators.