Contribution short abstract:

This presentation introduces a case of teaching critical thinking and social sciences in the OLIve program in Budapest, outlining the curriculum development process and the pedagogical experience.

Contribution long abstract:

The aim of the presentation is to introduce a practical example of teaching critical thinking skills and social sciences beyond the established university programs. This paper outlines the curriculum development process and the pedagogical experience of a class on social sciences and critical thinking for students of the OLIve (Open Learning Initiative) program, who have experienced displacement, including asylum seekers and those with refugee status. OLIve was part of CEU but now it is an independent association based in Budapest. The development of critical skills had been among the main scopes of OLIve as a pedagogical experiment of hope. Students may or may not continue on study tracks related to social sciences at universities, but they can deploy critical thinking skills (practices, strategies) as part of thinking and navigating their own life experience. In class, we depart from the idea that social scientists or critical intellectuals in general are similar to strangers (as described by Simmel). The stranger takes an outside point of view, similar to the position of the observer or the intellectual. The social scientist is also taking an outsider point of view to understand the situation, what forces are at play in certain outcomes and processes in the world? What is the history and structure behind everyday experiences, what are the mechanism at play?The class has a dual structure entailing a theory and history component, followed by the equal amount of sessions on current fields of empirical social research and social phenomena in our world today.