November: Getting Heated!
This month, with a Model UN styled debate, a University of Chicago public policy recruitment director, and Professor Benjamin Miller, we centered on discussion and considering opposing view points. We asked: "How do we best convey our argument?" and "How do we reconcile conflicting views?" but we learned so much more.
November 7, 2019: Death Penalty: Yes or No?
With this Model UN styled debate, members were given a chance to share views based on a randomly selected paper. We developed our argumentation skills by developing one minute introductions and conclusions. Of course, this was wonderfully interspersed with "movements" to debate specific aspects of the death penalty. We considered the cost of implementation—both economic and moral—and its effectiveness. Though tensions fortunately low, it proved to be an intellectually contentious topic for all.
November 14, 2019: Speaking Out
Are you worried about how you can make a change in the world post-grad? Worry not!
At this meeting, we learned about the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. Our guest speaker, Sparkle Dalphinis, the associate director of student recruitment at Harris, shared information with us on the benefit of working in public policy and how it can actually be a viable career. Often times, people, especially minorities in political science (*wink wink*), turn to being a lawyer in order to change their communities for the better.
Dalphinis informed us about the MPP program, which integrates community projects into its very curriculum while also preparing us with rigorous economics, statistics, sociology, political science, political economy knowledge.
As opposed to being stuck in a courtroom arguing individual cases, why not dive into public policy and case studies about wider community issues? Don't choose between making an impact on the world or making money; Perhaps, we can eat our cake and have it too.
If you want to know more, contact Mrs. Dalphinis at sdalphinis@uchicago.edu. She is extremely receptive to emails and is sure to respond to any of your questions!
But, that wasn't all! We also had UIUC's Speech and Debate team come in to do a quick workshop. Members learned and practiced formulating a strong argument with "uniqueness": establishing the current state of society and its problems, link: how a certain belief or procedure will solve the problem, and impact: what will happen as a result.
November 19, 2019
Is racial integration necessary for racial equality?
Our guest speaker was Professor Benjamin Miller, who instructs fantastic courses such as Intro to Political Theory (PS 270) and Justice in the Law. He opened with excerpts from books by political thinkers Elizabeth Anderson, who argues for institutional integration, and Tommie Shelby, who argues against it.
We learned that Anderson, although she supports integration, does not believe in assimilation. However, she believes integration is necessary for democracy and therefore requires institutional level integration policies, such as "housing vouchers" that enable people of color to live in wealthy, racially homogenous communities.
On the other hand, Shelby—who most of our group sided with—argued that Anderson's view framed specifically black people as patients. He argues that self-segregation is not inherently bad because it offers protection in terms of political power, social treatment, and economic power.
For most of us, we understood integration of an optimal destination for society but found it difficult to reconcile the idea with how people of color often have to be the ones to educate against and carry the burden of racial ignorance.
Overall, we were extremely riveted with this discussion, even going a little over our normal hour-mark. It was truly enlightening.
If you are interested in taking advantage of such opportunities, we meet in either DKH 111 or 436 on Thursday from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM (at most)! As always, feel free to email ampsuiuc@gmail.com if you have any questions.
We're always welcome to new members!