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A month after America re-elected President Donald Trump, and with just one month until the president-elect is inaugurated for the second time, students in a jointly taught class at the 51Ʒ�� continue to navigate the complexities of the 2024 election through an interactive, interdisciplinary lens. 

Taught by John Waterman, Ph.D., associate teaching professor of philosophy, and Kenneth Courtney, Ph.D., associate teaching professor in political science and global studies, the course is examining issues like voter turnout disparities, the impact of historical events on modern politics, and the challenges of interpreting polling data.

“This class is, for Ken and I as teachers, a project that is largely about understanding,” Waterman said. “America is experiencing a moment of turmoil, economically and internationally, that is leading to political turmoil, as well. As teachers, we typically try to understand the world and share it with our students. In this case, I think we are engaging in the project and sharing it with the students in real time.”

On Election Day, students participated in an interactive discussion on polling, using an electoral college simulator to map different pathways to 270 electoral votes, which wins a candidate the race. 

The session highlighted challenges like the difficulty of obtaining representative polling data. For example, in Pennsylvania, up to 300,000 phone calls may have been required to gather just 1,000 responses. 

“Polls can provide a sense of trends, but they also require careful interpretation,” Waterman explained. “It’s an opportunity for students to critically evaluate the role of data in shaping narratives.”

The class has tackled a wide range of topics throughout the semester, including free speech, abortion, divisions between socioeconomic groups, and racism. The faculty members aim to equip students with tools to engage thoughtfully with difficult topics. 

“Maybe the brief version is that they learn how to discuss challenging topics and leave with new intellectual tools for interpreting the world around them,” Waterman said.

Waterman (right) says the course is successful due to his and Courtney’s combined expertise — Waterman in philosophy, and Courtney (left) in political science.

With the semester nearing its conclusion, the class continues to analyze pressing issues in real time, embracing the intricacies of both the election and the democratic process itself. Students are benefiting from the combined expertise of its faculty members, offering perspectives from both the theoretical and practical sides of the political coin.

“Having two well-informed people in conversation with students provides them a richer, fuller, more honest perspective,” Waterman said. “The political inherently strains our ability to avoid intellectual bias, so having two voices test and elaborate one another is a far better path towards understanding.”