Up for Debate

It's been 10 days since the Civic Engagement Institute at USC began and the SUSI participants are more informed and empowered about U.S. democracy, human rights and diversity in U.S.

Today, we had opportunity to meet Dr. Todd Shaw and discus an authentic topic of Race and the Vote in the U.S.: "African American & Minority Voting Rights and the State of Disenfranchisement”. The aim of session was to provide a brief history of the vote and of the franchise in U.S. as impacted by race and ethnicity. Also we were able to understand the history and current state of disenfranchisement as an effort to suppress the votes of African American and other racial/ethnic minorities. At the end of session participants discussed about "white privilege", and it was a sensible and good topic for debates.

As feedback of the session Mykhailo Popovych, SUSI participant said, "Another busy, full of new knowledge day. Now, I know much more about elections in the U.S. after incredible lecture of Dr. Todd Shaw." Another participant, Salla Kivekas, also said, "It was an interesting session and I am really impressed about the statistic and new information."

At the end of the day, all participants split in groups to work on our Capstone projects.