CDCE has launched an initiative to increase civic engagement and improve voting accessibility for the 2020 elections. As part of the initiative, CDCE will award small grants to student organizations via a grant competition. The funds can be used for any purpose that will support greater civic engagement and/or voting accessibility for the 2020 elections. This initiative includes, but is not limited to students serving as polling judges and assisting with general voter outreach and the mail-in voting process. Grants from $1,000 and up to $2,500 will be awarded on a competitive basis to select student organizations that demonstrate tangible ways in which they will use the award funds to facilitate, motivate, and incentivize students to become civically engaged and participate in the democratic process by ensuring that citizens have full and equal opportunity to vote.

For more information on these grants, visit: https://cdce.umd.edu/feature/call-proposals-increasing-civic-engagement-and-voter-accessibility-2020-elections. 

In late September, Dr. Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development, will be the keynote speaker for day three of the Arab Center Washington DC’s fifth annual conference on “The 2020 US Election: Domestic and Global Implications,” which will be focusing on “The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Between Trump and Biden.” In October, Dr. Telhami will also be taking part in the post-debate sessions hosted by the Department of Government and Politics and the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement. Dr. Telhami will be participating in these on October 8th, 16th, and 23rd. And, on October 22nd, Dr. Telhami will be giving a presentation on “American involvement in the Middle East - Some things change, Some things always remain” for Democrats for Peace in the Middle East. The Sadat Chair has also resumed its speaker series, the Sadat Book Chats, this semester and will be hosting two chats in October (Tom LoBianco on October 7th and Professor Antoine Banks on October 22nd). To RSVP for these chats, please visit: go.umd.edu/sadatbookchats.

Please also mark your calendars for the upcoming Sadat Forum: A Conversation with Dr. Fiona Hill: Russian Interference in U.S. Elections, the Trump White House, and Looking Ahead Past November. This will be taking place virtually on Tuesday, October 20th at 4pm. For more information and to RSVP, please visit: go.umd.edu/2020sadatforum.

In case you missed it, the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll, which is directed by Dr. Telhami, released a report in August on “Study of American Attitudes toward the Political and Economic System.” To view the report, please visit: go.umd.edu/UMCIPreport2020.

GVPT Global Learning Programs was launched in 2019 with goals of teaching international cultural competency, developing student international political acumen, and improving student international problem-solving skills through political analysis. We worked to develop high-quality, low-cost study abroad options to be accessible to as many students as possible. GVPT Global Learning launched a unique “blended learning” course model that combined an on-campus semester-long class coupled with a short-term experiential trip abroad – the first of its kind at the University. Professor & Chair Will Reed lead the first course, taking students to Cuba in January 2020, with great success. His course and student experiences were featured in The Diamondback this spring.
 
COVID-19’s grounding of all international travel presented GVPT Global Learning with a particularly daunting challenge. In order to still make global experiences possible we launched our “Online Classes. International Experiences” Initiative with the continued support of the Office of International Affairs and Education Abroad. This fall, Professors Isabella Alcaniz and Sarah Croco offered GVPT Global courses with a distinct cultural component to help students “go global” while staying home. In the spring, Prof. Antoine Banks will partner with Sciences Po (Paris) to offer a GVPT Global course on race relations in the US and France. COVID-19 has presented some unique challenges for all of us, but we appreciate the work and support from our colleagues and the Department to continue making global experiences available to our students.