Two faculty members from the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences have established themselves as experts able to speak with local media outlets and within the community on topics ranging from politics and current legislation to present-day genocide and the Constitution.
As the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination rolled through Florida in late January, Charles Zelden, Ph.D., professor in the college, spoke on-camera and in-print with NBC 6 Miami and Local 10 (South Florida’s ABC affiliate), providing analysis on candidates and closed-primary voting rules.
- NBC 6 Miami
Florida GOP Primaries: A Glance Through History—online article from Jan. 30
Iowa “Setting Florida’s Table” for Jan. 31 Primary—video interview from Jan. 3
Zelden also sat down with WBPT 2, a South Florida public media channel, to discuss current anti-piracy legislation. The controversial proposal led to the recent 24-hour intentional “blackout” of popular Web sites, such as Wikipedia, in a digital protest. Zelden explored the future of the proposal and the challenges of providing affordable online content that will steer surfers away from piracy. The segment aired on Jan. 20, as part of the station’s Issues program.
Reaching readers across the globe, Zelden compared the Republican candidates’ “electability,” in a variety of articles published online by the International Business Times.
On Jan. 30, Gary Gershman, J.D., Ph.D., associate professor in the college, spoke to high-school students at the David Posnack Jewish Day School about “Genocides Past and Present.” Gershman aimed to draw connections between the Holocaust and more-recent genocides in Bosnia, Darfur, and Rwanda.
“Most students learn about the Holocaust and the idea of ‘never again,’” Gershman said after the talk. “Part of the talk emphasized that genocide has happened again. We also discussed what we can or should do about it today.”
Later that week, on Feb. 1, Gershman discussed the history and interpretation of the U.S. Constitution with the Tea Party of Broward. The conversation covered basic concepts, such as the idea of original intent in interpreting the Constitution, as well as how Americans view the Constitution in a historical context. They also discussed constitutional issues arising from a variety of upcoming Supreme Court cases on topics such as national health care and President Obama’s recess appointments.