Politics, Media and The Republic (352-0-20)

Instructors

Peter Slevin

Meeting Info

McCormick Foundation Ctr 2131: Wed 10:00AM - 12:50PM

Overview of class

As the 2024 election season enters high gear, with control of Congress and the White House at stake, this seminar examines the most challenging period for American political journalism since Watergate and the Vietnam War - and one of the most fascinating. Count on developing your own understandings of where we are, how we got here, what role journalism plays and what will happen next. We will explore such themes as polarization, messaging and image-making, voting rights and voter suppression, along with competing policy choices and up-to-the-minute developments on the campaign trail. The campaign will be our laboratory as President Biden presses his agenda, Donald Trump argues his cases (judicial and political), Republican rivals seek an opening and voters reckon with unresolved challenges at home and abroad.

This class will feature an optional weekend reporting trip, most likely to Michigan, underwritten by Medill, in February.

The class is taught by Peter Slevin, a longtime national correspondent for The Washington Post, who now writes about politics for The New Yorker.

Registration Requirements

Pre-req: Sophomore standing

Class Materials (Required)

None

Class Attributes

Attendance at 1st class mandatory
No Freshmen

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Pre-req: JOUR 201-1, 201-2, and Medill sophomore, Junior, or Senior Standing.