By Matthew Dooley Staff Writer
The Department of Residence Life will bring political seminars to campus starting on March 1 in Evert Dining Hall.
The seminar, “Consuming the Political Process,” is to take place over a two-week period every Wednesday.
According to Jonathan Lopes, the campus life coordinator for the Office of Leadership and Engagement, “The seminar is an overview on the U.S. political process including what parties are involved, how a bill is made, executive orders, interest groups, etc.”
The seminar may be a refresher for some, but for others it can be a one stop shop for their political queries.
“The main objective is for students to have context to their strong views,” Lopes said.
According to the event’s online synopsis, “The unknown is much less frightening when you have a strong construct of the political process.”
As the seminar’s name suggests, the goal is to make some of the more technical parts of the process digestible for students, giving them a wider well of knowledge to pull from when engaging in a political conversation.
According to the Susquehanna website the event is meant to “enhance not only your influence on our [Susquehanna] community, but our global community as well.”
Lopes said that the event will be part presentation style and part question and answer.
He wants the event to create an environment that would be “relaxed in that all views are welcome as long as there is mutual respect.”
“Come spend time with us during the dinner hour in the cafeteria, consuming food and knowledge,” the online synopsis advertises.
Lopes said, “We hope to enhance not only your influence on our [Susquehanna] community but our global community as well.”
The event will also feature a short video and a PowerPoint presentation.
According to the Susquehanna website, the event will include a Schoolhouse Rock video in addition to the discussion taking place.
For students interested in the event, Lopes said that there will be signs around campus advertising the event to grab people’s attention.
Lopes added that if students enjoy these seminars they may also become more frequent events.
He continued, “We haven’t planned yet for fall 2017. We will evaluate the quality of programs and possibly collaborate with other offices to produce bigger programs.”
The first “Consuming the Political Process” discussion will be held on Wednesday, March 1 at 5:30 p.m. in Evert Dining Hall.