;
The Close Up Current Issues Blog, updated weekly throughout the school year, helps teachers connect current events to their students and classrooms. We know that teaching the news can be time-consuming; by the time you find important issues and identify how to teach them, they are old news. That’s where our blog comes in: unpacking issues in the headlines by providing relevant context, links to classroom-ready news items, and suggested prompts for thoughtful discussion.
Podcast | September 10, 2021
After 20 years, eyewitnesses to the events share the impact of 9/11 on their lives and on the lives of their family members.
Post | September 8, 2021
After 20 years of U.S. troops maintaining a presence in Afghanistan, the United States began the process of ending its longest war by removing military forces from the region. Ever since he was vice president, President Joe Biden has been a strong advocate for reducing the scope of the military mission in Afghanistan in order […]
Post | August 31, 2021
On Tuesday, August 24, the House of Representatives passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by a vote of 219-212.1 The bill is an attempt to reestablish some voting protections that the Supreme Court struck down as outdated and unconstitutional in its 2013 ruling in Shelby County v. Holder.2 The bill faces a steep […]
Post | August 25, 2021
On August 24, the House of Representatives passed a $3.5 trillion spending bill, committed to passing an infrastructure bill, and moved forward with significant voting rights legislation.1 It was an important step in enacting such a large spending plan, but it was not the final step. Republicans and a number of conservative and moderate Democrats […]
Post | August 17, 2021
As teachers welcome students back into the classroom, it is important to establish good habits and routines for the new school year. One important habit is incorporating current issues discussions into civics, social studies, and humanities courses. To help teachers get started on the right foot, we’re offering a round-up of some of the most […]
Videos | June 18, 2021
During this Close Up Conversations webinar, Close Up’s, Joe Geraghty discusses ‘Juneteenth: Slavery at Mount Vernon’ with guest speakers Sadie Troy and Alissa Oginsky of George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Post | June 1, 2021
After April’s jobs report fell short of predictions and unemployment ticked up for the first time in the last year, some politicians and policymakers, particularly conservatives, called for an end to the generous unemployment insurance (UI) benefits that have been place since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.1 Although federal pandemic-related UI benefits are set […]
Post | May 24, 2021
A ceasefire has brought an end to weeks of increasing violence between Israel and the Palestinian communities in the territory it controls, particularly the Palestinian Islamic-nationalist group Hamas. This latest outbreak of conflict ended a period of relative calm that had persisted for the better part of a decade. Adding to the complexity of the […]
Videos | May 21, 2021
During this Close Up Conversations webinar, Close Up’s, Joe Geraghty discusses ‘Public Service In America’ with guest speaker Tim McManus, COO of Partnership for Public Service. Public Service is key to making many sectors of our government run smoothly. Service comes in many different forms, in this Close Up Conversations we will discuss the importance […]
Post | May 18, 2021
President Joe Biden is currently promoting his plan to transform the U.S. economy.1 In a previous blog post, we explored one element of that plan: infrastructure. In this post, we will examine some details of the Biden administration’s American Families Plan. What is in the Plan? According to the White House, the American Families Plan […]