Dear Students:
In case you were unaware, the “great” state of New Hampshire, our
neighbor to the north, holds the first in the nation presidential primary on
February 4th, 2016. These campaigns are looking for young people to work unpaid
in the time between just after Christmas and the beginning of classes. This is
a fantastic opportunity given our close location to Nashua and the fact that
most of you already possess clothing that can survive a New England winter.
They will generally feed and house you, but you won’t be paid.
I don’t want to sugarcoat this: you will be a grunt. You will
knock doors, make phone calls, set up events, make coffee, go on bagel runs,
and talk at length with annoying people about meaningless things. You will do
this for 12-15 hours a day. You will also make (if you go into politics as
a career) some of the best connections of your life. People move up the ranks
quickly in campaign politics; people who were interns 12 and 16 years ago are
managing presidential campaigns now.
You can get credit for this course in the intersession with me as
a directed reading, which you can later use as a 400-level political science
credit.
Here’s what you’ll need to produce (if you want to enroll in the
directed reading and get credit):
- 100+
hours of work in service to the campaign. You’ll need your supervisor to
sign a letter confirming this.
- A
five-page “reflection paper” on your experience. I will provide a detailed
prompt for you.
- You’ll
need to keep a journal if possible during your experience.
I already have reached out to several of the presidential
campaigns and have materials from them. If you are interested, email me with
your name, the candidate you would like to work for, and whether you want to
enroll in the directed reading or not. I will do my best to facilitate these
opportunities for you.
Thanks so much,
John
John Cluverius
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
Research Fellow, Center for Public Opinion
University of Massachusetts Lowell
office: 978-934-5380
John_Cluverius@uml.edu
