Printer-friendly version

Speakers, Briefings & Panel Discussions

Throughout the seminar, lectures, briefings, and panel discussions involving national leaders, the media, faculty, and other types of convention participants are presented to the seminar participants. These expert speakers, representing the private, public, academic, and advocacy sectors, present various views on topics related to the pertinent issues of the 2012 presidential campaign. Students will be asked to participate in these sessions by asking thoughtful and direct questions of the participants.

Please Note:

The Leadership in Communication Program overlaps with the two-week seminars, Campaign 2012: The Democratic National Convention and Campaign 2012: The Republican National Convention.  The faculty will determine the extent to which the LIC program will access speakers from these programs or provide alternative programming exclusively for the LIC students.  So in some cases students will be in a large group session and in other cases will be as a self-contained group with a guest speaker or lecture from the faculty director or faculty leader.

Political Workshops & Issue Forums (Optional)

Workshops, training sessions, convention committee hearings, and other special educational activities sponsored by the convention organizers and related groups will be made available to participants whenever possible. Many of these will be optional activities, as their scheduling may conflict with some Washington Center programming events.

Small Group Discussion Sessions (About 12-15 Hours)

Participants are assigned to a faculty leader who is responsible for supervising the academic activities of approximately 18 students.  The faculty leader uses the group discussion sessions to identify themes, issues, and perspectives common to the general sessions, readings, and fieldwork experiences of the students.  The faculty leader encourages student participation during the group discussions, enabling students to express their opinions, observations, and insights, as well as better understand the views of others in the group.

These small group meetings may either be held in formal classroom settings or in various locations close to students’ fieldwork locations or places that provide greater access to potential guest speakers.  Depending upon scheduling and availability of speakers, the formal group presentations and small group discussion meetings may be intertwined.

Convention Sessions, Host City Activities & Special Events (About 6 Hours)

Students are kept informed about convention sessions, press conferences, workshops, tours, receptions, and other convention-related activities.  Students are able to choose from a variety of optional activities to suit their own interests and learning goals. The Washington Center does not guarantee passes or credentials to these events, but we try to facilitate access whenever possible.

Fieldwork (Up to Approximately 40-60 Hours)

Toward the end of the first week of the program, students begin their assigned fieldwork/volunteer placements.  Efforts are made to match student interests and expertise with appropriate and available placements.  In addition, there is an on-call “HOTLINE” set up to receive last minute requests for assistance from students who have some additional free time to contribute to convention activities.  Most participants will likely volunteer or, depending upon assignment, commit for considerably more than 40 hours.

Throughout the fieldwork assignments, students are expected to develop and utilize their initiative, assertiveness, and leadership skills to enhance the opportunity to attain their academic and/or professional goals for the seminar.

Fieldwork performance is evaluated along professional levels of expectations.  Fieldwork should not be confused with the term “internship,” which may imply a more substantive nature to the assignment.  Instead, fieldwork is more akin to opportunities for participant observation than for substantive responsibility, although that may occur.

The primary goals of fieldwork include:

1. To provide participants with an opportunity to have access to people and places in order to observe and experience first-hand the role that various individuals and organizations play at the conventions.
2. To, at least a limited extent, provide a professional opportunity to contribute to the goals of an organization that works in support of the host city, convention organizers, the political party, and/or the presidential ticket or in the civic enterprise nature of the event.

For more information, please contact us at C2012@twc.edu.

Photos from the 2008 Conventions

View the 2008 Political Conventions photo set