Teaching about presidential elections at the elementary level can seem a bit daunting at times. Students are quick to share their strong opinions on the current candidates running for office. These opinions often involve repeating feelings and phrases shared by parents around the dinner table the night before. For the average seven- or…

It is important to remember that elections are but one piece--albeit an important one--of much larger processes of politics and governance. Moreover, in the United States they are increasingly implicated in the construction of identities and places. What goes on in the course of electoral politics (creating electoral systems and voting districts,…

"Tell Us the Truth" is a collaborative article by a professor of English and her freshmen students in a core humanities course from the Fall 2016 entitled Readings in Atlantic Slavery. The students read novels, slave narratives, memoirs, and history. The essay follows the growing interest of the students as they read against the…

This research provides new evidence on the political activity and policy-setting agenda of the largest national teachers' union during a time of political change. Using a longitudinal dataset comprised of election outcomes and campaign contributions for all candidates for federal office and the National Education Association's (NEA) official…

It's too soon to know what will define Donald Trump's presidency, but one of the defining characteristics of his campaign was a near-total disregard for facts. According to PolitiFact ("Donald Trump's file," n.d.), about 70% of Trump's statements have been either mostly false, completely false, or outright lies. Candidate Trump wasn't…

In this dissertation, I conceptualize a rhetorical and linguistic analysis of politics from a decolonial framework (Mignolo, 2011; Smith, 2012). My analysis draws on classical rhetoric (Aristotle, 2007), cultural rhetoric (Mao, 2014; Powell, et al., 2014; Yankah, 1995), and linguistics (Chilton, 2004) to reveal the different ways ideological and…

Objective: The purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between organizational characteristics, state political climate, and student civic engagement at community colleges, operationalized in this article as student voting. Method: Utilizing a unique cross-sectional dataset compiled by the Institute for Democracy & Higher…

Teaching controversial issues can be challenging for any teacher, but especially so when the teacher is a cultural outsider. In this article, we provide a snapshot of one social studies educator's experiences teaching about two hotly contested elections--the 2016 U.S. presidential election and the 2017 Korean special election--to middle school…

When approached about working with colleagues to develop a new course revolving around the inner-workings of a political campaign, one thing was obvious to me: We had to give the course the unique element of making it as closely mimic real-world campaign activities as possible. If we were going to attempt to actually prepare students for work on a…

Daring to challenge the status quo impacts innovation. Yet, successful outcomes depend on individual risk-taking and choice to influence others to support new ideas. This "Challenging the Status Quo" exercise illustrates how leaders use power and influencing tactics to challenge norms by analyzing Donald Trump's journey as the 45th U.S.…

In this commentary, Gary Henry explains that the Danes have got it right, again. Not only is their voter turnout high to begin with, but they are evaluating ways to increase voter turnout with "random variation" to accurately assess the effects of the innovations. In the Danish 2009 municipal elections, 65.8% turned out to vote, which…

Courses: Media and Politics, Political Communication, Political Rhetoric, Media Effects. Objective: By taking part in a classroom activity, students will explore how cognitive frames and media frames play a role in learning from political debates.

What responsibilities do researchers of learning have in the wake of Trump's election and the proliferation of far-right, populist nationalism across the globe? In this essay, we seek to prompt and engage a dialogue about the political role and responsibilities of our field at this historical moment. First, we situate the social hierarchies that…

How is the president of the United States elected? Why is this the method used? Is this the best and most efficient way of electing the president of the United States? Questions such as these are well suited for a mathematics discussion that promotes numeracy, because, "notwithstanding the immense value of numeracy for education and vocation,…

Demography is the study of human population statistics. The United States Census Bureau has measured the demographics of the U.S. population since 1790. Why? The main purpose was for division of representatives of the people in government and for taxes. As time has gone on, it gives us a better picture of who we are as a nation and how to better…