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. 

 

Visit this space again for updates on more recent sessions