With Election Day just a week away, you can’t escape the onslaught of messaging — political ads, flyers, billboards, and memes. The candidates running in the 2024 election are everywhere. But what if, instead of tuning in (or tuning out), you could run your own presidential campaign?
Students in Bryan Blankfield’s Honors College course, HON 410: Becoming the President, are doing just that.
Welcome to 2028, a fictional future where the traditional political parties have collapsed, and it’s up to two new parties to shape the course of U.S. history. Dice are rolled, debates are held, and campaigns are strategized. It may only be for class credit, but the campaigns in this course are just as unpredictable as the real thing.
The Course: Becoming the President
At the center of Becoming the President is a semester-long mock presidential campaign. The format stemmed from pandemic, when Blankfield wanted to run an engaging political campaigns class over Zoom during the 2020 election.
“The campaign runs the entire semester, and we hold our primaries in November on Election Day. The last month of class is when the two candidates who've received their party's nomination are duking it out,” explains Blankfield.
Whether or not a candidate is successful can come down to, literally, a roll of the dice. The 20-sided dice, a staple in role-playing games, decides everything from campaign finances to polls. “It's not just a fun way to gamify the class — it nicely represents the messiness of the campaign process,” Blankfield says.
Two students roleplay the presidential candidates while the rest of the class fills vital assignments: campaign managers, policy advisors, communication directors, and journalists. The students work in concert to complete their different roles with the goal of a successful campaign. Through this exercise, they integrate their classroom experience with their readings on campaigns and elections.
Why is it being taught?
The course is offered only once every four years. “Elections are a timely thing. It’s a good opportunity to make the material relevant, and election season is always fun because there are unexpected things that shouldn't be happening. It's never stale for the students or the teacher,” says Blankfield.
Who’s teaching it?
An associate professor in residence of communication studies in the Honors College, Blankfield has a wide variety of teaching and research specialties, including animal studies, civic engagement, presidential rhetoric, and rap music.
“I've always been more interested in understanding how individuals make sense of the world around them. It's less in terms of what our political leaders are doing, but more how ‘ordinary’ individuals are trying to participate in the process.”
While the political activities in this class are simulated, next semester Blankfield will take another Honors class to Carson City to participate in the 2025 Session of the Nevada Legislature. The experience will offer students hands-on experience with real-world politics.
What’s something students might be surprised to learn?
“A lot of people do not fully recognize the extent to which algorithms are shaping their perception of candidates and campaign issues" Blankfield says. "Every time we use the internet, social media, or our smartphones, we create data points that savvy campaign teams can use to target us with advertisements.”
Students are surprised to learn that, because of these algorithms, it is very easy to cultivate digital echo chambers and confirm biases, leading significantly to political polarization within the United States, he says.
What excites the instructor the most about teaching this course?
The gamified curriculum is key to the class because it allows students to decide what they want to do for their campaign that day — whether it be fundraising, seeking endorsements, or creating advertising.
“Sometimes a student will describe a brilliant commercial, appeal, or fundraiser, and then they'll roll a one. It’s just a complete failure and they’re not going to gain any votes from it," Blankfield says. "Other times, you think something is going to end that person's campaign and it doesn’t."
His favorite part of teaching the class is seeing students come up with innovative ideas as they navigate the twists and turns of their campaigns.
How does this course connect to students’ future careers?
The students in Becoming the President represent a variety of majors — from biochemistry to real estate studies — and will pursue a wide range of careers after graduation. Regardless of their industry, Blankfield aims for students to gain an understanding of the strategic planning that goes into a campaign. More importantly, he hopes the students become sensitive to the influence of algorithms and echo chambers.
The reading list:
Blankfield recommends the seminal book on campaign reporting, “The Boys on the Bus” by Timothy Crouse. He also recommends going straight to the source by watching presidential campaign videos:
- Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “I Like Ike”
- Ronald Reagan’s “It’s Morning Again in America”
- George W. Bush’s “Windsurfing”
