Updating the Pro-Life Classroom

Current CCBR classroom:

  • Strengths: good material, probably the best out there of any pro-life group
  • Weaknesses:
    • Essay format= not ideal for self-study or group study
      • How to present the material in a more effective, more engaging way?
      • Too linear, not ideal for group use or for an individual who wants to dive deeper into 1 topic

Updated Classroom

  • Polished version of the UTSFL Classroom
    • Keep the university course code system - a good format
    • Lesson/seminar-style modules
  • Polished content that can be easily added to in future
    • lesson-plan style: something that works well for both self-study and for leading group discussion
    • Footnotes or links for deeper self-study e.g. “click here for the whole documentary on Emmett Till” or something
  • Ideas to increase engagement with the content and website:
  • Quizzes
    • Add a gamification element - *see if the apologetics exam has some stuff we could pull
  • Stack exchange
    • *would need to be monitored for pro-choice trolls
  • Future Wishlist
  • Videos
    • Practice dialogue, e.g. role-playing examples
      • For Gerrit to record–> should all be under 1 min.?
        • Testimony of just HR argument :!:
          • Kerri-Ann
        • Polaroid analogy
          • Tikvah
        • CG/A/Q: :!:
          • Circumstances - general (ex. poverty) - Craig
          • “Choice”/bodily autonomy e.g. drunk driving analogy or something - Emily
          • The rape exception - Kim
        • Embryology
          • Before/at/after: can someone explain it quickly?
          • embryo vs. amoeba - Oriyana
          • one of the SLED categories - me, if time

Content

  • First objective: polish up the core of it enough to make it useful for people with a moderate knowledge base e.g. campus leaders
  • “Program requirements”
    • Prioritize: Apologetics and Strategy first (we have the content but need to polish)
      • Heart Apologetics and Politics: Have some content, but need more :. Can start fleshing out 100-level but less of a priority
  • Seminars to Update/Polish:
    • Apologetics
      • 100
        • PBA100Y
        • Maybe: move PBA202H to 100 level? I.e. “what is abortion?” Surgical methods, plus video?
        • Move “PBA120Y why victim photography” to strategy?
        • Recommend bringing back PBA105H as a Personhood 1.0 seminar
      • 200
        • PBA 201H - embryology
        • PBA205h: update to start with a more general seminar on personhood?
          • responding to challenges re: personhood of the pre-born (e.g. discriminatory history of personhood) – or would this be more appropriate in the 100 level?
          • Functionalism can then fall under this as extended reading?
          • Other things re: personhood?
        • PBA203Y - medical dilemmas
        • Link to further reading re: maternal health in countries with stricter abortion laws vs. in countries with more liberal abortion laws
        • PBA210H: Bodily autonomy 1.0
      • 300
        • PBA303H: double-effect reasoning
        • PBA305Y: Peter Singer’s philosophy - speciesism and functionalism
        • PBA310: Violinist (bodily autonomy 2.0)
    • Strategy
      • 100
        • PBS100Y
        • Move PBA120Y here as first one?
        • PBS120Y
        • CCBR’s material can be pretty easily slotted in here
      • 200
        • PBS200Y
          • but break this down a lot, into 2-3 seminars?
          • Reforming our movement…
          • Theory of change
          • EndTheKilling plan

Layout

  • How will website be organized?
    • By stream?
    • By “playlist” of recommended viewing?
  • Default setting is important as most will opt for this setting
  • How should we organize it by default? What are alternatives?
  • Separate page with a “guide to the classroom”? E.g. self-study vs. group study…recommend different “batches”…
  • Photos to highlight–featured presentation of certain, more important seminars

Sources for Content (Internal and External)

  • UTSFL classroom and CCBR classroom
  • Websites
    • Secular Pro-Life http://blog.secularprolife.org/
      • Pros: there’s a ton of good content in here. Great links for further reading - they have short-and-sweet blog posts that explore 1 issue helpfully e.g. http://blog.secularprolife.org/2016/12/response-to-argument-from-investigation.html
      • Cons: it’s not topically organized, have to really hunt for stuff; also, because they have *so many* contributors, the content can vary in quality and/or in “purity” (e.g. some of the contributors support the rape exception, I think some support health-of-mother exceptions, but if we’re linking to specific posts then this shouldn’t be an issue)
    • LTI http://prolifetraining.com/resources/
      • Pros: some really good articles e.g. constructed vs. developing. Draw from the content but update the format
      • Cons: quite dated, has a biblical focus that isn’t as relevant to CCBR’s website
    • Equal Rights Institute https://blog.equalrightsinstitute.com/
      • Pros: has heart apologetics and dialogue strategies, unlike many other groups; one of the only groups to take relational/heart apologetics seriously; website is well-organized and has a variety of learning formats (videos, podcasts, articles)
      • Cons: the ERI approach doesn’t work as well in an activism/AVP context. They can be almost…too nice. Very focused on building friendships/relationships with pro-choicers, which is important in our daily lives but is impractical in say, a CC
  • Books

Misc.

  • feedback from group leaders – over the summer and/or in the fall?
    • Ex, beyond UTSFL/TAA and Lifeline/LAA: would NAA like to test out the content and give feedback? Tikvah for Ottawa group? Other campus leaders who’d be willing to provide feedback (Talia, Paul, etc.)?
    • have 3-4 modules which, when grouped together, could function for an intro apologetics workshop? Useful for XAA groups, campuses, etc.