SMU offers wide variety of election-themed events during runup to Nov. 8 balloting

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU will host compelling events and classroom discussions in coming weeks that touch on varying aspects and issues surrounding the looming presidential election. Media interested in covering these events and/or classes  should contact the Office of News and Communications at smunews@mail.smu.edu or 214-768-7650.

SEPTEMBER

Tate Lecture Series featuring Doris Kearns Goodwin, Tom Brokaw and David Gergen

Sept. 20 (Tuesday)

Student forum: 4-5:30 p.m., Hughes-Trigg Student Center Ballroom

Evening lecture: 8 p.m., McFarlin Auditorium

Seven weeks out from election night, the former host of NBC Nightly News, Tom Brokaw, and renowned presidential historian and author, Doris Kearns Goodwin, will examine the 2016 election and how it will shape America's next four years. CNN political analyst David Gergen will serve as moderator in his 21st Tate appearance. Read more.         

Uninformed: Why people seem to know so little about politics and what we can do about it

Sept. 21 (Wednesday)

5:30-7:30 p.m., Great Hall, Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall

University of Michigan professor Arthur Lupia and SMU professor Matthew Wilson will discuss why so few Americans are informed about politics, and steps that can be taken to increase the nation’s level of political literacy. This event is presented by the Sun & Star Japan and East Asia Program, which aims to increase awareness of the economic, historical, political, and social trends of Japan and East Asia that affect the future of China, Japan, Korea, East Asia, and the world, including the United States. Read more.

How We Got Here: Primaries

Sept. 24 (Saturday)

2-4 p.m., Harold Clark Simmons Hall

SMU political science professor Dennis Simon presents part one of a three-part lecture series on presidential elections. How We Got Here: Primaries, will look at how the primary process has grown and developed through time, and whether the process now in place is the best way to nominate our presidents.  Registration is requested here.

Presidential debate watch party

Sept. 26 (Monday)

7-10 p.m., 241 Umphrey Lee Center

SMU Director of Debate Ben Voth will host a non-partisan debate-watch party with SMU students. Voth will deliver an opening lecture on presidential debates before the debate begins. Students will be balloted twice during the debate to gauge which candidate they feel is winning.         

Campaign Finance

Sept. 26 & 28 (Monday and Wednesday)

4-5:20 p.m., 204 Hyer Hall

Every four years, SMU political science professor Dennis Simon teaches a class titled “Presidential Elections and American Politics.” Journalists are welcome to sit in on these classes, where Simon leads the students through discussions on each week’s topic, viewed through the lens of current events. The title of the Sept. 26 & 28 classes is “All you ever wanted to know about campaign finance.”

OCTOBER

Vice presidential debate watch party

Oct. 4 (Tuesday)

7-10 p.m., Owen Arts Center O’Donnell Hall (2130)

SMU Director of Debate Ben Voth will host a non-partisan debate-watch party with SMU students. Voth will deliver an opening lecture on vice presidential debates before the debate begins. Students will be balloted twice during the debate to gauge which candidate they feel is winning.         

The Electoral College: Origins and History

Oct. 5 (Wednesday)

4-5:20 p.m., 204 Hyer Hall

Every four years, SMU political science professor Dennis Simon teaches a class titled “Presidential Elections and American Politics.” Journalists are welcome to sit in on these classes, where Simon leads the students through discussions on each week’s topic, viewed through the lens of current events. The title of the Oct. 5 class is “The Electoral College: Origins and History.”

The Election of 1912 and its Contemporary Significance

Oct. 5 (Wednesday)

3:30 – 6 p.m., McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall

The 2016 presidential election just might be the most interesting election since 1912, when four candidates – Theodore Roosevelt, William Taft, Woodrow Wilson and socialist Eugene Debs – drew a significant portion of the popular vote. Join SMU scholars Thomas Knock, Crista Deluzio, Brian Franklin and UT-Arlington scholar Kenyon Zimmer for an afternoon of of workshops and presentations that will draw lessons from the past and apply them to the nation’s immediate future. This event is sponsored by Humanities Texas, with support from a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Read more.

American Maelstrom: the 1968 election and the politics of division

Oct. 6 (Thursday)

5:30-7:30 p.m., Great Hall, Elizabeth Perkins Prothro Hall

Boston Globe contributor Michael A. Cohen will give a lecture on his latest book, American Maelstrom, which posits that 1968 was the hinge between the decline of liberalism, the ascendancy of conservative populism and the rise of anti-government attitudes that continue to dominate the nation’s political discourse. Read more.

Presidential debate watch party

Oct. 9 (Sunday)

7-10 p.m., 241 Umphrey Lee

SMU Director of Debate Ben Voth will host a non-partisan debate-watch party with SMU students. Voth will deliver an opening lecture on presidential debates before the debate begins. Students will be balloted twice during the debate to gauge which candidate they feel is winning.         

Where We Are: General Election

Oct. 15 (Saturday)

2-4 p.m., Harold Clark Simmons Hall

SMU political science professor Dennis Simon presents part two of a three-part lecture series on presidential elections. Where we are: General Election, will look at voting trends, party coalition bases and whether or not campaigns really matter, as models have been developed that can predict election winners as far out as August pending inputs such as the state of domestic and international affairs. Registration is requested here

Third Rail Series: “Are we too dumb for democracy?”

Oct. 18 (Tuesday)

7 p.m. (reception at 6:30), McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall

America’s founding generation feared popular passions were likely to pollute political waters, leading to demagogues, disputed elections, and the death of their new American experiment. Two-hundred-plus years later, have we achieved all they feared? Dedman Family Distinguished Professor of Philosophy Robert Howell and Associate Professor of Political Science Joseph F. Kobylka, a pair of SMU professors, will discuss whether Americans are too dumb for Democracy. Cosponsored by Dedman College, the Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility and the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture.. Read more.

Presidential debate watch party

Oct. 19 (Wednesday)

7-10 p.m., 241 Umphrey Lee

SMU Director of Debate Ben Voth will host a non-partisan debate-watch party with SMU students. Voth will deliver an opening lecture on presidential debates before the debate begins. Students will be balloted twice during the debate to gauge which candidate they feel is winning.         

Historians in Chief: How presidents interpret the past to control the future

Oct. 20 (Thursday)

Various discussions, morning – afternoon, Mack Ballroom, Umphrey Lee Center

Ten historians from across the country, highlighted by Bancroft Prize-winning SMU history professor Edward Countryman, will gather to discuss how presidents have manipulated history in their writings and during their campaigns to suit their own purposes, changing the way we understand the past. Ronald, Regan, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt are examples of just a few of the politicians who have bent history to justify their policies. This event is free and open to the public. Read more. 

Fear and Loathing: Political Neuro-Biology and the 2016 elections

Oct. 20 (Thursday)

5-7 p.m., McCord Auditorium, Dallas Hall

Rice Professor of Political Science John Alford will discuss a recent study that concluded roughly half the variance in political ideology is attributable to genetic influences, and the implications that has on the 2016 election. Read more.

 

NOVEMBER

“Predictive Models” of Presidential Elections”

Nov. 2 (Wednesday)

4-5:20 p.m., 204 Hyer Hall

Every four years, SMU political science professor Dennis Simon teaches a class titled “Presidential Elections and American Politics.” Journalists are welcome to sit in on these classes, where Simon leads the students through discussions on each week’s topic, viewed through the lens of current events. The title of the Nov. 2 class is “Predictive Models” of Presidential Elections.

Where We’re Going: Post Election

Nov. 12 (Saturday)

2-4 p.m., Harold Clark Simmons Hall

SMU political science professor Dennis Simon presents part three of a three-part lecture series on presidential elections. Where We’re Going: Post Election, will analyze the outcome of the 2016 election and how party bases have changed as a result in the context of historic loyalties.  Registration is requested here

 

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