The 2008 presidential and local elections are on the minds of a vast number of Whitman students. But, for 26 students, the elections will not only affect their national and local futures, but will also help determine their grades.

These students are enrolled in the Politics 200B class, The 2008 Elections, which is taught by Assistant Professor of Politics Susanne Beechey.

Beechey said that the idea for the course was to organize it around what would appear on students’ ballots come election day. The class discusses the ongoing Presidential and local issues, as well as follows various kinds of media coverage of the issues and campaigns. Students also analyze the roles that gender, class, and race play in U.S. politics.

“Basically what we’re trying to do with the course is use this exciting time in national politics to get students involved and thinking critically about politics. It’s kind of a fun time to be thinking about elections,” Beechey said.

Beechey has said that she has encountered multiple kinds of reactions from others who hear about the class. She said that some people think the class is exciting while others speculate on the challenge of teaching what is happening right now.

But Beechey has taught similar courses in Washington D.C., and doesn’t think a class about this topic is that out of the ordinary.

“Most of what I study is really contemporary public policy questions. I’m kind of used to dealing with what’s going on and what’s in flux right now, so it’s maybe not as unusual to me as it might be to other people,” Beechey said.

She did, however, admit there are challenges with the syllabus.

“One of the challenges is that we don’t really know what we’re going to be studying, because we don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s set up to really be flexible,” Beechey said.

In many ways, the interests of students control what the class focuses on. And Beechey said that the class is composed of students with all levels of politics knowledge, who are interested for different reasons.
Sophomore Faith Tucker came into the class with relatively little political knowledge.

“At first I was a little bit intimidated about the intensity of the class and political discussions, but it turned out to be a really great medium for learning about politics and becoming more aware. I’ve never been a very politically active person but I’m getting very interested in the topic, and looking how I can be more aware and active,” Tucker said.

Sophomore Ben Moore said that class has so far affected the way he thinks about the election system, and caused him to reconsider why things like candidate appearance is so important to voters and the media.

“Instead of me just getting angry about those sort of things, I sort of ask, well what’s the basis for these things. I would say that being in a class that allows us to talk about politics, allows you to think about things and definitely changes your opinions about things you’ve felt very staunchly about,” Moore said.

Junior Emily Percival agrees with Moore.

“It’s really nice to hear people who have once drawn vent kind of discussing the merits of arguments that maybe they don’t agree with,” she said.

Percival added that that the local aspect of the class was particularly beneficial to her. As a Portland, Ore. resident, she said she has learned a lot about what is going on her own county by assignments that require her to look specifically at what local issues will appear on her ballot.

“It is really important and has been effective in helping people to understand the election process better on the local level. There’s a whole lot of debate about why are we electing the people we are electing, and on what basis, and if it’s the right basis,” Percival said.

Junior Jordan Wheeler is more critical of the class. He felt as though Whitman students are less able to look critically at their own viewpoints and consider other arguments.

“That something that is true across the entire politics department,” said Wheeler, a politics major.
Beechey hopes, however, that throughout the semester, students in her class learn to challenge their viewpoints and think about politics in a critical way.

“It’s a class that requires students to be self-motivated,” she said, “and assumes that they’re there because they’re interested.”