During an election year in which the stakes seem higher than ever, Professors Mary Kate Cary and Jennifer Lawless have captured the attention of students and community members alike regarding a topic that will define the future of our nation, co-teaching a class titled “Election 2024.” The course has become one of the most popular at UVA, with nearly 500 students enrolled. It is set in an enormous lecture hall in the School of Nursing that is jam-packed every Tuesday and Thursday with some of UVA’s most civically engaged students. At the helm of it all are two women who stand on opposite sides of the aisle, but are willing and able to engage in constructive, healthy debate and transcend the polarization that grips our nation’s politics.
Professor Lawless, an associate editor of the American Journal of Politics Science, began teaching this class in 2000 and taught it by herself every four years until 2020. She joined UVA in 2018 and, in 2020, became the department chair of the politics department. This influx of responsibility, along with COVID-19, led to her to rethink the class structure and opened the door for the arrival of Professor Cary. “We didn’t come into it thinking it would be a bipartisan perspective,” Lawless said. “We realized that it would be an opportunity to have people from both sides of the aisle, and then we could embrace our own ideologies.”
Before academia, Lawless ran for a Democratic seat in the House of Representatives in Rhode Island’s second congressional district. Cary was a White House speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and served as spokesman for then-Attorney General Bill Barr during the second Bush Administration. Together, they lead what UVA boasts as “one of the only political science classes in America taught from both sides of the aisle.”
The structure of the class is diligently decided. The professors begin with recent election news before jumping into their own opinions. “My dad always taught us that we had to read the news section of the newspaper first before we could read the op-eds,” says Cary.
When they do discuss their opinions, what stands out most is how diplomatic the discourse is. “We agree more than we disagree,” says Cary. “But one of the goals of the class is to demonstrate that even when we disagree, we can disagree civilly,” adds Lawless. “And there can be dialogue that is totally appropriate and not necessarily what you see on Fox News or MSNBC.” They practice what they preach during the class session, both giving their opinions on the recent ABC presidential debate, for example, while also being open to discussing and hearing the other’s side.
Even their guest speakers follow this theme of healthy conversation. The class has had three sets of speakers so far, each featuring someone from both sides of the aisle. Regarding student feedback to these talks, Lawless reports, “The students have said, ‘I can’t believe how much they agree.’”
Last week, two political veterans visited the class as guest speakers. One had trained Democratic candidates for debates going back to 1976, and the other has been a Republican National Committee delegate and planned conventions for decades. In front of the class, these two supposed rivals told each other they loved one another. They also shared with students insider information on candidates and debates that is typically not covered by national media. “When you see these guys on T.V.,” Lawless explains, “They’re much more guarded.”
So why are they willing to speak so freely in front of the class? “We don’t record them,” says Cary, “so they speak much more freely.” “And they definitely do,” adds Lawless. This freedom results in students getting much more genuine and informative interactions and Q&A sessions with these individuals—not simply prewritten statements or reused speeches.
This idea of privacy extends beyond just the guest speakers. Nothing the students say can be recorded; everything is confidential. This creates a safe space, conducive to much more open discussion and debate. With 500 students around it can be difficult to express one’s opinions. Having this rule in place relieves a little bit of that stress.
The class was not expected to be this big. In fact, Lawless and Cary were originally only anticipating about 250 students. Today, the auditorium that seats double that number is completely full. In the first two weeks of this school year, over 200 additional students joined the class, doubling the number of students who enrolled in the spring.
There is one teacher’s assistant for the class, so there are no discussion sections. Instead, it is required that each student completes one hour each week, for ten weeks, of political engagement. “You can volunteer for a campaign, you can be a poll watcher, you can go to a political webinar,” explains Cary, “so there has been a lot of activity outside of the classroom which is good.”
It has not been all smooth sailing in the class, however. Lawless and Cary know that this generation’s attention span is shorter than usual, so they cannot simply stand on stage and lecture for 75 minutes. Instead, they utilize a variety of multimedia, whether it be campaign ads, videos, or music, to keep the room engaged.
More difficult than finding the right content to show is actually being able to display it. “The AV in this room has been a huge challenge,” they both emphatically exclaimed. Twenty minutes are spent before class trying to fix the massive on stage screen which will not turn on. They call for assistance, but the display does not budge until class has already begun. “It shouldn’t be this hard,” Lawless rightfully laments. They are forced to cut out the audio portions more days than not.
Despite the technical difficulties, the course is well-run, informational, and interesting. The students are also engaged and attentive. Yet, what is most surprising for such a seemingly important and serious topic is the level of fun. Lawless and Cary know that they are great at their jobs. They are confident in what they espouse and know not to take themselves too seriously. This light-heartedness is the driving force behind what makes the class so special. In a country of division and solemnity, two women with opposing political views manage to interact in not only a healthy, civil way, but in an entertaining one, too.
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