Department of English

Ben Bradlee, the late editor of The Washington Post, said that political journalism is “the first rough draft of history”: an opportunity to report and write about the tumultuous civic life of this nation as it unfolds in real time. In this course, we’ll feed off the news during one of the most consequential election seasons in American history: the 2026 midterms.

Students who are passionate about writing and politics will track the national news each week and write posts that will be workshopped in class. We will hear from eminent guest journalists, and we will tackle some thorny — indeed painful —issues: (1) Is traditional “both sides” journalism up to the task of watchdogging the newsmakers in an era when democracy itself is under serious threat? (2) Is it feasible to provide “balanced” coverage of the two major parties when the leaders of one party are openly working to undermine democracy? (3) Is it still possible to seize and hold the reader’s attention long enough to keep them off TikTok? This course is designed to help students master the craft of writing clear, responsible, incisive, substantive, and engaging political analysis, and supporting it with factual research/reporting. The hope is that students can live off the news and develop their “earned voice” via effective writing, reporting, thinking, and communication. 

Legendary journalist Martha Gellhorn famously remarked: “People often say, with pride, ‘I'm not interested in politics.’ They might as well say, ‘I'm not interested in my standard of living, my health, my job, my rights, my freedoms, my future or any future.’ If we mean to keep any control over our world and lives, we must be interested in politics.” This course is designed for students who are most interested.