RTWH 2020 Planning Trip -- September 2019 -- Senator Kamala Harris -- Londonderry Town Hall

RTWH 2020 Planning Trip -- September 2019 -- Senator Kamala Harris -- Londonderry Town Hall

While in New Hampshire, I was able to see the Sen. Kamala Harris Manchester HQs and to see Senator Harris at a Town Hall meeting in Londonderry.




The Town Hall was held outside at Mack's Apples -- a picturesque NH backdrop for the event.  Senator Harris talked about her optimism as it relates to the 2020 election -- and her belief that Americans have it in them for a good fight.  She argued that we must prosecute the case against 4 more years of Donald Trump. As a former prosecutor, she said that Trump has "quite a rap sheet."  After prosecuting that case, Harris went on to talk about her priorities if elected President.  After her stump speech, she took a number of questions from the audience on a wide range of issues, from judicial appointments to health care reform to gun violence.

I parked across the street -- this is a view of the event as I approached from the main road

A short video - to see the crowd at the event (and get a hint at the playlist that warmed up the crowd) -and a short video of the event as it broke up (and - Hamilton - not throwing away my shot!)

Final RTWH 2020 Course meeting - April 28 - Virtual

Our meeting on April 28 was meant to be a CELEBRATION EVENT, in person, on campus -- and an opportunity for us to thank all of the staff on campus who helped make our trip to NH possible.

We also planned to have a "screening" of our course video as well as a presentation of the RTWH 2020 books.

Instead, we were meeting virtually, through Blackboard Collaborate Ultra in our LMS (Canvas)

We do appreciate USFSP Chancellor Martin Tadlock for joining our session. Thank you for your support of the Road to the White House 2020!

And we did use the time to reflect on our session with Australian Electoral Commissioner Tom Rogers, students' Paper #6: Suggestions for Reform, as well as cover the unit on campaign finance reform.

(NOTE: We still plan to have our celebration event on campus -- once we are able to have events on campus again. So, please stay tuned!)

RTWH2020 -- the Online Classroom -- Guest Speakers thru BBCU! -- Office of National Scholarships-- Public Service Opportunities

Our online synchronous course meetings have been going well, using the Blackboard Collaborate Ultra platform.  We can see and hear each other during our seminars with no technical difficulties.

During Thursday's class, for the first time we welcomed guest speakers using the link for the BBCU session.  That, too, worked well.  Our guests, after I made them "presenters," were also able to share their PPT presentation with the class. 

These guest speakers were from USF's Office of National Scholarships. See

https://www.usf.edu/ons/

They assist students who want to apply for national awards like Fulbright and the Truman  Scholarship.

I was so pleased that Lauren Chambers and Lauren Bartsche could speak to the stellar students in my RTWH2020 course specifically about prestigious public service opportunities.

You may be looking at future Fulbrighters and/or Florida Gubernatorial Fellows as you peruse pics posted on this blog.  I will certainly do my best to support and mentor the students -- along with the brilliant assistance of the ONS.

And -- thanks to the BBCU platform that enabled us to continue with our guest speakers as planned.

Associate Director of ONS Lauren Chambers

Assistant Director of ONS Lauren Bartsche

From Living and Learning Together 24/7 to Distance Learning....RTWH2020 in the age of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Our Road to the White House 2020 class went from living and learning together 24/7, criss-crossing the state of New Hampshire in 15-passenger vans .... to self-isolation and social distancing.  All USF classes have moved 100% online for the remainder of the semester.

While I have been teaching online for many years -- even recently publishing an article about "Civic Engagement in the Online Classroom" (See http://www.ejournalofpublicaffairs.org/civic-engagement-in-the-online-classroom-increasing-youth-political-engagement-in-an-online-american-government-course/) -- it was still a bit of a shock and a huge undertaking to re-develop all of my face-to-face classes into online classes during our Spring Break week. (At least we had this built-in period to work on this transition.)

(At USF 5,000 classes were moved online virtually overnight -- see https://www.wusf.org/coronavirus-has-tampa-bay-area-schools-universities-preparing-for-online-learning/)

Today, our Road to the White House 2020 class met online for the first time. Using Blackboard Collaborate Ultra (through our LMS: Canvas), we were able to meet "live" during our usual class period.  What a treat it was to "see" my students!

I am happy to report that we did not have any technological issues. (I was a bit worried, given that all schools all over the US and, indeed, all around the world, have transitioned all classes online at the same time.) Everything went smoothly, and we had a productive class.

The topic for today was Predicting Presidential Elections, and students presented papers using various forecasting methods (e.g., based on public opinion polls, identifying bellwether states, surveys of the president’s job performance, expert opinion, looking at the nominating process and general election campaigns to assess their forecasting potential, and looking at the national economy as clues to election outcomes, among others) to predict whether the Democrat or the Republican candidate will win the 2020 presidential election (finding evidence to support their hypotheses like polling data, economic indicators, etc.). Students did an outstanding job, and I am looking forward to reading the papers.

I understand that all of us are dealing with a range of difficult issues as a result of this pandemic, some of which may cause severe hardships. Yet, I feel incredibly grateful that we were able to come together as a class today -- discussing our previously scheduled content of forecasting presidential elections while incorporating current events and considering the 2020 presidential campaign in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many things in our lives are turned upside down right now.  But one thing that can remain constant is our commitment to our academics and to each other.

And -- regardless of accommodations and adjustments that may be necessary -- we can still finish this semester as strong as we started.  #GoBulls

And I look forward to "seeing" you on Thursday!

Welcome to our learning community Dottie, Lexi, Happy, Belamy, Murphy, Guiness, Augie, and Kyro!

I am so grateful that we can still "see" each other and continue learning together

RTWH 2020 Planning Trip -- September 2019 -- Senator Kamala Harris -- Londonderry Town Hall

While in New Hampshire, I was able to see the Sen. Kamala Harris Manchester HQs and to see Senator Harris at a Town Hall meeting in Londonderry.

The Town Hall was held outside at Mack's Apples -- a picturesque NH backdrop for the event.  Senator Harris talked about her optimism as it relates to the 2020 election -- and her belief that Americans have it in them for a good fight.  She argued that we must prosecute the case against 4 more years of Donald Trump. As a former prosecutor, she said that Trump has "quite a rap sheet."  After prosecuting that case, Harris went on to talk about her priorities if elected President.  After her stump speech, she took a number of questions from the audience on a wide range of issues, from judicial appointments to health care reform to gun violence.

I parked across the street -- this is a view of the event as I approached from the main road

A short video - to see the crowd at the event (and get a hint at the playlist that warmed up the crowd) -and a short video of the event as it broke up (and - Hamilton - not throwing away my shot!)