Bringing the 2002 Elections into Your Teaching

For the past three years, the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University has hosted short courses at the American Political Science Association’s Annual Meeting on the topic of teaching about campaigns and elections. These efforts are part of the “Improving Campaign Conduct” project funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts. Our experience shows that professors teaching American politics have an interest in keeping their classroom materials relevant and timely, while also preserving a strong analytical framework. Here, we hope to offer some advice and guidance to professors teaching courses that cover campaigns and elections in whole or in part.