American Presidency, taught by Rebecca Thorpe, in the fall of 2016 was a part of one of the most influential quarters of my time at UW. The election of Donald Trump was shocking and deeply troubling to me as a progressive young woman. Taking this course at the same time was comforting in providing context and understanding why and how this had happened. The final project for this class was a team debate. My group was randomly assigned to defend the domestic policies of President George W. Bush. As none of us agreed with many of the former president's policies on a personal level, this was a challenge. Nevertheless, we were able to do thorough research and formulate arguments to support this position. Because of this we not only won our debate, but also had the highest score of any team. Below I have included our full debate notes as well as the more concise document I used for my own notes during the debate itself.
Political Science 316: African American Political Theory
This course was one of my favorites throughout my time in political science. Taught by Christopher Parker, the course was an overview of African American social and political thought. It focused on how black political thinkers and activists sought to shape the American polity and explored major ideological trends and political philosophies as they have been applied and interpreted by African Americans. In addition to learning about this, I was also connected to an internship at the IREHR during this course.