Beyond Ballots, Exploring Questions of Civic Engagement and Political Discourse
We are excited to use this fall’s election season as a laboratory to consider broad questions of civic engagement and political discourse. As part of our Common Classroom offerings called “Beyond Ballots” which focuses not only on the upcoming election, but also more broadly on civic health. In early September former History Teacher Steve Wilson led a discussion titled The Twisted Path to the White House: The Electoral College and You. Students and faculty filled the Buttner auditorium and explored why the founders put the Electoral College in the Constitution, how it works, how it changes our politics, and what it all may mean for the 2024 election.
We also welcomed guest speaker Amy Larsen, Director of Global Field Engagement and Strategic Projects of Microsoft’s Democracy Forward team. She discussed democratic resilience in the age of AI, engaging our students on topics such as how corporations can work to protect democratic institutions and actors, promote a healthy information ecosystem, and defend global elections against an increasingly complex technological backdrop.
Arjun ’25 interviewed his dad Nanad Mulchandani, CTO of the Central Intelligence Agency. They discussed how authoritarian regimes can weaken the founding ideals of democracy by sowing distrust, and how election integrity has become an issue of national security.
Eric Westervelt, Editor/Correspondent/Host NPR News, and father of Olivia ’27 talked with a group of students about the danger of viral disinformation and personal responsibility, explored the weaponization of misinformation in the race for the nation’s highest office, and answered their thoughtful questions.
Eric Westervelt, Editor/Correspondent/Host NPR News, and father of Olivia ’27 talked with a group of students about the danger of viral disinformation and personal responsibility, explored the weaponization of misinformation in the race for the nation’s highest office, and answered their thoughtful questions.
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