Campaign 2020

picture of White House at sunset

CAMPAIGN 2020/HNRC 300VH-002
THURSDAY, 5-6:15 p.m., FALL 2020
GEAR 129
Interested? Apply for Campaign 2020 here. Deadline: 11:59 p.m. Friday, April 3, 2020.

Are you the type of student who obsessively follows political campaigns? Do you keep track of every poll or piece of campaign fundraising news you can get your hands on? Then you should sign up for Campaign 2020. Each week, students will track the various twists and turns of this year's presidential campaign. A number of questions will be considered throughout the semester, including:

  • Will President Trump's base once again carry him to another victory in the Electoral College?
  • Are the Democrats going to be able to unite behind their nominee?
  • Which key states will ultimately decide the victor?
  • Will the winner of the election face a friendly or hostile Congress in January 2021?
  • And more!

All honors students, regardless of their place on the political spectrum, are invited to apply for Campaign 2020. The foundation of the course will be the discussion that takes place each week around a table in the Honors College wing of Gearhart Hall. The class will begin with a foundational study of the presidency, focusing on the nature of the office and the process through which we elect our presidents every four years. Considering this election cycle includes an incumbent president, the class will also analyze President Trump's first term in office along with what will be the major policy issues being debated in the campaign. Each student will also be assigned a battleground state to track throughout the semester, periodically reporting to the class about the state of the race. Students will also produce essays for the Honors College blog, predicting what will happen before Election Day, followed by an analysis of the final results and what they mean for the next four years of the United States.

About Noah Pittman:

portrait of noahNoah Pittman currently serves as the assistant dean of enrollment for the Honors College. Pittman earned a B.A. in political science, summa cum laude, from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was active in a number of campus groups and won numerous awards, among them the Yerger Hunt Clifton Scholarship for British Studies at Oxford, the Seidman Award for Most Outstanding Senior Political Science Major and the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for Senior Male Student. During college he also interned at Congressman Steve Cohen's Ninth District Office in Memphis.

At the University of Arkansas, Pittman completed a M.Ed. in higher education leadership and a Ph.D. in public policy. His dissertation on the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery and its effects on college participation in the state earned him the William Miller Dissertation Award from the university's public policy program. As an instructor in the Honors College, Pittman has taught a variety of courses that focus on American politics, including Tracking Trump & Hillary, Trump 365, Midterms Elections and Presidential Speeches.