Nonpartisan lecture and event series at Muhlenberg College addresses the issues surrounding midterm elections.
On November 6, 2018, Americans will elect 435 members of the House of Representatives; 35 U.S. Senators; 39 governors; 6,070 state legislators; and thousands of mayors, city council members, school board members and township commissioners.
In a national political context in which politics is anything but usual, few midterm elections have seemed as urgent or as uncertain. Join the Muhlenberg College community for a series of speakers and events, both before and after the midterm elections, that will address the following questions and more:
How and to what extent will the election be a referendum on the Trump presidency? What will the elections of 2018 reveal about the current state of American political parties and the ideological polarization between liberals and conservatives? How will issues such as race, immigration, national security, trade, reproductive rights and gun control inform the political debate and shape voters’ choices at the polls? What forces—interest groups, money, the media, ideology—have the great potential to shape electoral outcomes whether in support of or opposition to democracy? How will the outcomes of the 2018 elections matter to national (and international) politics moving forward?
Unless otherwise noted, all Elections 2018 events are free and open to the public. For questions about the program, please contact Lanethea Mathews-Schultz, chair and professor of political science, at mathews@muhlenberg.edu or 484-664-3737.
ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge
Ongoing Fall 2018
Muhlenberg College has joined hundreds of other colleges and universities for Civic Nation’s ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, which recognizes campuses that are committed to improving democratic engagement, increasing voter participation rates and graduating informed and active citizens. The Challenge at Muhlenberg links academic departments, offices of student affairs and student organizations, including ‘BergVotes, in collaborative efforts to increase meaningful campus dialogue, promote voter registration and mobilization and create a more inclusive democracy. The Challenge does not support or oppose candidates for public office or take positions with respect to political parties. Instead, it encourages active and informed democratic participation. For more information about how to get involved, contact Michele Deegan, professor of political science, at deegan@muhlenberg.edu.
Kristin Goss: Whatever Happened to the ‘Missing Movement’?
Gun Control Politics Over Two Decades of Change
Thursday, September 13
Moyer Hall, Miller Forum, 7 p.m.
Goss’ work focuses on how everyday Americans participate in public life—with a particular focus on guns, gender and giving—and why it matters. The Kevin D. Gorter Associate Professor of Public Policy and Political Science at Duke University, Goss is author of “The Paradox of Gender Equality: How American Women’s Groups Gained and Lost Their Public Voice” (University of Michigan Press, 2013) and “Disarmed: The Missing Movement for Gun Control in America” (Princeton University Press, 2006, 2009) and co-author of “The Gun Debate: What Everyone Needs to Know” (Oxford University Press, 2014). Before entering academe, she was a Washington-based journalist covering non-profit organizations and foundations for The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
“Charlie vs. Goliath”
Film screening with post-film discussion
Friday, September 28
Seegers Union, Red Door, 2 p.m.
“Charlies vs. Goliath” is a feature-length documentary about an ordinary man’s extraordinary struggle to shake up the political establishment. It would be hard to find a more unlikely candidate than Charlie Hardy, a penniless, 75-year-old former Catholic priest who spent nearly a decade serving the poor while living in a cardboard shack in a Venezuelan slum. Charlie returned to his hometown of Cheyenne, Wyoming in 2011 and decided to run for office in 2014,…
