Podcast on the Political Science and Voting Rights

WEEK 1

I have officially completed the first week of my Senior Independent project and with one week under my belt I am not only feeling confident about the remaining weeks, I am also so incredibly excited. Through my research I feel as though I have learned so much more than I thought I would; not only content wise but also about what goes into the research process especially surrounding politics. I began my research by looking back on a summer program I did in 2023 about the role media plays in advocacy and politics. This course involved a lot of researching effective ways media has been used for promoting nonprofits, activist groups, and political Ideologies. Getting a good sense of what engages an audience was a really helpful starting place for my research. Here is a link to one of the mini projects I did over the summer. Tactics like power mapping and breaking down the layers of certain political issues allows for an effective understanding and ultimately a more powerful message delivered to the audience. After diving back into previous work I had done over the summer, I reached out to our very helpful  librarians Mrs. Andrews and Mrs. Bartek to point me in the right direction of sources I should be  using for my research on the election itself. Mrs. Bartek sent me this very interesting website that puts a lot of the most popular news sources on a political spectrum so readers can get an idea of which outlets are more left or right sided or relatively unbiased. Here is the spectrum. Another great website that the Librarians provided me with is AllSides. This website has been especially helpful because it provides for each issue news from the left, the center and the right. When dealing with politics it can be difficult to remain unbiased especially with the current state of US politics, but the goal of my first article is to get people to vote not necessarily for a favored candidate. A lot of my research has centered around the previous terms that both the presumptive nominee for the Republican party and the Democratic Party, Trump and Biden, have served as president. I've begun to map out the structure of the article as well, breaking it up into an infographic style with general information about the election as well as more specific information, main promises/goals, and stances on prominent issues under each candidate. 

Here is an example: 

Donald Trump

45th President of the US

Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee for the republican party winning more than 1800 delegates. Etc. 

For this piece to remain as unbiased as possible, I've decided not to make it into a podcast episode and rather focus on the physical structure of the article and the information I'm presenting. 

Here are the goals I have set to accomplish with this article: 

Research Candidates: Look into the backgrounds, policies, and track records of the candidates running for office. Consider their experience, values, and proposed solutions to the issues that matter most to you.

Evaluate Platforms: Assess each candidate's platform and stance on key issues such as healthcare, education, the economy, climate change, social justice, and foreign policy. Determine which aligns most closely with your beliefs and priorities.

Consider Leadership Qualities: Evaluate the candidates' leadership abilities, integrity, and willingness to listen to and represent their constituents effectively. Both candidates have already served one term as president, so will be important to analyze policy

Assess Local Issues: Consider local issues and challenges facing your community, such as infrastructure, public safety, and housing, and how each candidate plans to address them.

Consult Reliable Sources: Seek information from reputable sources, including non-partisan voter guides, news outlets, and the candidates' own campaign materials.

However, it is the responsibility of the reader to take the information they receive and engage in discussions with others to gain insights and different perspectives. It is important that I am not the one doing this for them through my writing. I am very excited to begin writing it this week. Stay tuned for more!

WEEK 2

For any juniors interested or considering doing a senior independent project, please feel free to find me on campus and ask me any questions about it. I definitely think that if you have something you are passionate about or there was a class you wish you would've taken/skill you want to learn before you graduate, this is the perfect opportunity. I came into the program a little late, but my passion for social justice and democracy was enough to push me through and get my proposal in. This is not an escape from class, so if you are looking for a way to be done with all of your work a little early, I want to stress that the SIP won't provide that for you. Instead, the SIP provides an outlet for you to put that time and work into something you genuinely care about and want to pursue. Again, please reach out if you have any thoughts or questions as I would be happy to help!

WEEK 3

The third week of my independent project was focused on research for my second piece of the project. The purpose of this piece is to not only Inspire my readers, but lay some groundwork for the third and final part which is the interview with my special guest. At first I thought about diving deeper into some of the most prominent issues at stake in this election, and then I thought about writing about the impact of women's vote in this election and analyzing the campaign strategies of the candidates to effectively win the vote of  women. I settled on the idea of writing about different student-led efforts for democracy throughout history. This idea came to me when one day I ran into my European history teacher Mr. Willson in the dining hall a few periods before class. I had to drop my European history class for the senior independent project, but because it was one of my favorite classes at the school, I've made an effort to still attend some classes and participate in projects and class discussions. In the dining hall Mr. Willson asked if I would be coming to class today because he thought I would specifically enjoy what he was planning on teaching us about that day. Of course I was intrigued, so I went to class and we ended up talking about The White Rose. The White Rose was a non-violent intellectual resistance Group in 1940s Germany. This group of students objected to the restrictive  and inhumane nature of Fascism and gave their lives to spread ideas and thoughts about a more democratic, open-minded  government and way of life.

In addition, I will be attending UC Berkeley next year and Berkeley has a deep history in rights movements and social justice. Both of these factors combined with the current protest going on nationwide at universities made this topic feel perfect for me to dive into for my readers. The purpose of this piece is not to encourage any sort of protest in particular, but to demonstrate to students the power they have to make the change they want to see in the world. In my research during the first two weeks of my project I began to understand that a lot of young voters don't strongly support any of the presumptive candidates. This is dangerous because it can lead to a sense of political apathy, But the purpose of this piece is to remind students that it's important and beneficial to look away from the candidate and look towards the issues they care most about. One also need to view their vote as an ability to make the change they want to see. However in addition I want to highlight that voting is not the only way for students and young adults to partake in democracy. For a lot of the student-led rebellions  I have researched for this week,  the students were part of groups that didn't have the ability to vote or had an identity that limited the value in their voice, but this didn't stop them from pushing for change. 

I'm very excited to begin writing this piece because of the pure joy and hope I found in researching these movements. I am often told by older generations that it is up to my generation to change the world. It feels like a lot of pressure but really there are so many ways to change the world. In the words of Li Lu, one of the leaders of the Tiananmen Square Student protests of 1989, “Each person has a potential opportunity to make some type of difference in the world”. Check back in next week to hear about the writing process and more research! 

WEEK 4

This week, I took my research and love of history to create my second article which I will be recording as a podcast this week. Last week, I discussed all of the student rebellions and strides towards democracy that I planned on using in my article— The White Rose, Berkeley free speech movement, and the protests at Tiananmen square. I had learned just a fraction of the events that happened during these formative times and protests in school, so to be able to go further in depth and really focus on the aspects of these stories that stood out to me was such a great experience. I definitely felt inspired, and the work didn't feel like work. I was investigating and learning. 

One of the purposes of this project was for me to get an idea of political journalism to see if it is a career path I would be interested in pursuing, and I definitely feel that these past two weeks, I've really gotten a taste of what it means to be a journalist. I've had to change angles quite a few times on this piece, but I feel that discussing the history of students fighting for change could not be more important to discuss right now given the nationwide Israel-Hamas protests at universities. My purpose is not to sway voters to vote a certain way or for a specific candidate, but simply to increase democratic participation, so I had to be strategic about how I addressed the conflicts happening on campuses. I read multiple articles, some primary sources, some secondary commentary and analysis, but what I realized through reading accounts and meeting with my mentor, Dr. Sallee, that it was important to focus on two things mainly — the premise of what exactly is going on and what students are fighting for, and the response of the government, which involves a strong military presence. 

This is why it is so important to study history when going into a profession of politics or justice/law and order. Looking at history gives us a key on how to handle conflict based on how it was handled in the past. History shows that violence creates two specific issues, neither of which create any benefit to the people or the country — political apathy and extremism. When college students are met with military forces on a university campus, there is a threat not only to the people, but the freedom to share thoughts and ideas. 

As I prepare for my interview with Dr. Glasgow this Thursday and my presentation to the seniors the week after next, I take into account everything that is happening at college campuses and how this will affect the presence of young, student voters in the next election. I hope it will inspire more young voters to vote for the issues they care most about, not the politician that can “win them over”. 

I have begun to work on my final presentation and I decided to focus on both the importance of voting and how to actually vote when in college if they are out of state. Mail in ballots can be tricky to navigate and an easy way to have your vote lost. I plan on creating an infographic for students on how to vote via mail-in ballot so they can keep it with them when the time comes. I also want to address the power of voting in local elections, because that is where we see the most immediate and direct change. Similarly, issues that the students I surveyed cared most about such as gun violence, education, and abortion all heavily lie in the hands of state and local governments to make the specific laws within the federal guidelines. Once I finish my podcasts this week, I will begin preparing for the presentation. Thank you for reading, and check back in next week for more information!

WEEK 5

From the final week of my senior independent project I really began to focus on preparing for my interview with Dr. Glasgow and beginning to prepare my presentation. Last Thursday, I recorded my podcast episode focused around student protests for civil rights both in America and internationally. I'm really happy with the way this podcast turned out, and it goes really well with the interview I had  this Monday with Dr. Glasgow. One of the main points that Dr Glasgow really  stressed was that US History already provides us with so much information and reason to vote,  it just really matters how it is taught. History is a tool we often forget we have  as a way to learn and find inspiration to continue pushing for change. I can't wait to finish editing my interview with Dr Glasgow and post it for students, parents Educators and really anyone who plans to vote because he had so many wise words to offer for so many different audiences. I really enjoyed this podcast not only because I've been able to learn more, but because of the amazing people I've gotten to work with as well so many people who are so passionate about democracy it's truly inspiring and instills in me I hope for the future.  I believe my generation is one of a kind and I hope that just one of my fellow classmates feels inspired by my work and decides that they want to take advantage of their right that so many people have and still fight for—the right to vote. We forget that voting is a privilege because most of us either don't have a proper education of the history of suffrage as well as voter suppression, or we have the education  but still struggle to understand due to a lack of experiencing it. I hope my project reminds everyone of just how lucky we are to be able to drive 5 minutes to a polling location and play a role in  our government.

 For my final presentation I plan on starting off with election trivia, both about candidates and general information about the voting process. Sometimes the best way to keep the attention of high schoolers is to treat them like younger students so I plan on rewarding them with candy if they can get an answer correct. After the election trivia I plan to give a rundown of exactly what I did, why I did it, share a little bit of my interview with Dr Glasgow, and then explain the importance of voting in Texas even when you leave the state for college and how mail-in ballots work. I'm sad this project is over,  but I already have plans to continue my work into the summer. Fortunately my stepdad has the opportunity to go to the Democratic National Convention for his work this summer, and I am hoping to either go with him or have him gather resources for me when he goes. It has been so great to work with my former teacher, Dr. Sallee as she has been a fundamental part of my project and overall success. Thank you to everyone who worked with me and kept up with the work I did as well!  I can't wait to share all of my work.