What is the significance of the 2018 midterm elections? How do they fit into the broader electoral process? How do media report on elections? How do voters come to decisions? What do citizens need to know to engage meaningfully with candidates and issues?
The School of Journalism together with the College of Social Sciences and Humanities is offering a one-credit, intensive, co-taught pop-up course that will introduce students to multiple disciplinary perspectives as tools for understanding and addressing topics that emerge in the immediate run up to and aftermath of the midterm elections.
The course encompasses two Saturday sessions before and after the elections, with self-paced activities between the two dates.
Students will learn about the history and significance of midterms, practice digital skills and explore how big data and associated technologies can be used to track, visualize, and affect election trends; and be introduced to various forms of media representation and assess their impact on the election cycle.
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October 13
Electoral Explainer
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Faculty lead: Costas Panagopoulos
What are midterm elections, and why are they important? Provides an overview of the midterm elections, expectations for the course and resources for research, data and further reading about the midterms
Analyzing and Visualizing Elections with Data
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Faculty lead: Aleszu BajakHow do we track and understand voting patterns? What new tools have emerged to improve data collection about elections? This hands-on workshop introduces students to mining social media, visualizing election data and crafting op-ed articles.Guest speaker: Dan Kennedy, School of Journalism, on how to craft an effective op-ed.
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October 17
“Covering Washington” panel
Featuring Dan Lothian and Callum Borchers
6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.Week of October 29
Attend a campaign event!
November 6
November 8
Elections in the Media
9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Retrospective on what happened. Northeastern faculty will join to discuss the implications. Discussion and activities with panel including faculty with expertise in journalism and social media.
Ethical Issues & Looking Ahead
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Discussion and activities with panel of faculty experts in political science, ethics, philosophy, and public policy. Students begin to outline and write op-eds and will submit first draft before end of day. Guest speaker: Jonathan Kaufman, School of Journalism, on media coverage of the elections.
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