On Tuesday, Nov. 8, the people of the United States will be given a voice on who our next president will be. Are you ready to vote?
Newman University will host some activities around campus leading up to election day in an effort to motivate students to vote and to gain more insight on the candidates.
The Humanities Department hosted an election roundtable discussion on Tuesday, Nov. 1 in the Tarcisia Roths, ASC Alumni Center. Most of the humanities faculty attended along with about 30 high-achieving students.
“Students have really enjoyed these discussions in the past since it gives them an opportunity to delve into a variety of topics in a fairly open format,” explained Associate Professor of History and Chair of the Humanities Division Kelly McFall, who also came up with the idea for the event.
The Humanities Division has hosted this event twice, beginning last year with an event in October on privacy and another in the spring semester. They hope to make it a semestral event.
When asked if the roundtable discussion encouraged Newman students to vote, Administrative Assistant Emily Rhamy replied, “I think so. I think that a lot of the faculty encourages students to think critically and to transform society.”
Along with the roundtable discussion, the Honors Freshmen Seminar, which is a required class for all freshmen honors students that meets throughout the semester on Wednesday nights, has been oriented this year around the theme of democracy in America.
“We’re playing two ‘Reacting to the Past’ games about democracy, reading articles and listening to podcasts about the election in America, and broadly considering the questions raised by living in a democratic society,” explained McFall.
“My Mass Communication class is working through the Trump Syllabus, which introduces observers to the past and present conditions that allowed Trump to seize electoral control of a major American political party,” said Assistant Professor of Communications Suzanne Berg. “By extension, this syllabus acknowledges the intersectional nature of power and politics. We’re also looking at the Lemonade Syllabus as a way to understand the mediated construction of the two most significant figures of 2016.”
One of the events happening on election day is a watch party Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Kristi Edwards is holding for her classes. The event will start at 6 p.m. in the Alumni Center.
Students will watch the results of national and local elections on CNN, FOX, and some local channels. “We will be watching the result and statistical coverage … and the media outlets,” explained Edwards. “There’s not a lot of opportunities to actually see in real time what you learn in the classroom, and this is one of those unique events in life where what we study is actually happening in real time. I’m hoping that the students are as excited as I am!”
Election day is on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Make your voice count, and heard, and help “transform society.”
