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<\/h4>\n<\/h4>\nCampaigns and Elections, in Theory and Practice<\/p>\n
I noticed many of my students, including those interested in political science, had never actually\u00a0engaged in politics beyond voting<\/a>. I also saw that many of the clubs and activities that helped me make friends when I was a college student seemed to have withered during the COVID-19 pandemic. I wanted students to have an opportunity to get to know each other, see how politics works in practice and get something useful on their resumes.<\/p>\n Every student participates in an election in some way. They can help register people to vote, volunteer for a campaign, be\u00a0nonpartisan election workers<\/a>\u00a0or serve as\u00a0poll watchers<\/a>. They can volunteer for any kind of campaign, from the presidential election all the way down to local races, where students might be interacting directly with candidates. We\u2019ll spend most of the class processing what is happening on the campaign trail: the good, the bad, the ugly and the absurd.<\/p>\n Today\u2019s students face serious headwinds. They\u2019re\u00a0inheriting historic political<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0social divisions<\/a>\u00a0that are compounded when people tell them not to trust anyone else. They\u2019re also\u00a0strikingly lonely<\/a>. I think that the only way out of the cynicism and distrust is by engaging, participating and understanding how the system does and doesn\u2019t work.What does the course explore?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Why is this course relevant now?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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