Leading up to Election Day 2008, faculty panelists moderated a discussion on alternative viewpoints, theoretical and historical political perspectives, and what the candidates aren’t talking about. The event was covered by WKBW Channel 7 News.
Students were invited to share their thoughts on the election and to consider alternative approaches suggested by panelists Dr. Brad Hollingshead, Dr. Ted Pelton, Dr. Jerry Erion, Dr. Daniel Kotzin, and Dr. Matt Bowker. Topics discussed included: how voters select candidates, the roles of race and class, the nature of popular discourse, and the forces of emotion and ideology in politics.
According to Dr. Matt Bowker, organizer of the event, “I thought the forum was a lot of fun and a great success. The students who came and shared their views struck me as some of Medaille’s best and brightest. I think they shrewdly perceived that even with a seemingly interminable two-year election process, there are still pressing questions and concerns that we have not settled, perhaps that we will never settle, and this I regard as one of the great truths about politics.”
He continues, “While some aspects of politics are brutal, much of politics is the result of intellectual conversations that have been going on for thousands of years, so I think it is wonderful when we can find a way for students and faculty to come together to be a part of those conversations.”