Students have the chance to attend the Presidential Inauguration for college credit as a part of a short course being offered this January.
Dr. Lynette Sharp Pena and Dr. Suzie Macaluso, director of the Sociology Program, will be teaching the class Political Communication and Sociology in Presidential Campaigns in Washington, D.C. This class is both an upper level communications and upper level sociology class.
Pena was inspired  to create this short course after attending the 2008 inauguration with another school.
Macaluso said the experience will be through the Washington Center, and they will cover media bias and media influence in presidential campaigns.
“We’re going to talk about how the media has influenced conversations about the campaigns and election results which directly ties to the inauguration,” Macaluso said. “But also the inauguration, in terms of communication and sociology, has a lot of significance to the ceremony.”
The class will listen to guest speakers every morning and then visit sites in Washington D.C. and connect what has been discussed to the site. Students will also write a letter to the incoming president and attend the inauguration at the Mall.
“It’s definitely going to be hands on,” Macaluso said. “A lot of it is really learning from doing and being there and hearing experts talk about the topic.”
Students such as Joyce Schuster are already signing up for the short course. Schuster, freshman political science and history major from North Richland Hills, aspires to be an international lawyer or lobbyist and said she is excited to experience the inauguration and Washington D.C. first-hand.
“I want to take this short course because I’m very passionate and interested in politics,” Schuster said. “Witnessing an inauguration is a huge event in history, and it will be amazing to witness something that is written down in the history books.”
Schuster said she also thinks this short course will provide an opportunity to network.
“This will give me the opportunity to meet with senators, broadcasters and lobbyist,” Schuster said. “There is nothing better than actually going to DC with the Washington Center and meeting people I hope to intern with. This trip is something that can propel me forward in my career.”
