>"You seem to be implying that any claim that's involved in partisan politics is either impervious to critical thinking, or that we ought to avoid thinking about such a claim critically because it might upset some people."

I wasn't trying to imply that, but I do see how what I wrote was viewed that way. I was looking at this from the angle of the class being an elective. From that perspective, you would be hard-pressed to present modern issues in a way that doesn't alienate half (presumably) of the prospective students. I'm not saying it can't be done but I don't know how to design such a curriculum.

I feel like you'd have to ease in to examining current partisan issues, otherwise the cognitive dissonance would be too strong. Otherwise I think half of the students would just shut down and not take any lessons to heart.

Okay, I see what you’re saying, but that’s literally what thinking critically is. It’s vital that one be taught to identify when they’re not thinking critically. Perhaps it is the case that many people simply refuse to think critically, in which case education about how to think critically is clearly not the problem.