Class dates: Oct 31, Nov 7, 14, 21, Dec 5 (5 weeks)

Class time: 10:00 am to 11:30 am

Location: Online (via Zoom)

This discussion-based course explores five pivotal political conventions that reshaped American history. Each week, we’ll examine primary sources — speeches, party platforms, news coverage — to understand how conventions in 1832, 1860, 1948, 1968, and 1980 reflected and redirected national debates. Participants will engage in lively conversations about the issues, choices, and lasting consequences that emerged from these historic gatherings.

Required readings: 

Week 1: Genesis of the First National Political Convention: A Case Study in the Development of an American Institution ;  How Political Conventions Began—And Changed .

Week 2: Five Conventions, Four Candidates, and Three Parties: Chaos before the Election of 1860

Week 3: Sweat, steak, five o’clock shadows: How TV transformed political conventions in 1948

Week 4: Revisiting The 1968 Republican Convention ;  The rise and fall of the televised political convention

Week 5: Narratives of the Presidential Nominating Conventions: Branding The Parties And Candidates               

Instructor: Karl Hakkarainen is a long-time WISE instructor with an academic background in American studies and career in information technology. He has taught courses on social networks, American history, education, music, intellectual property law, and artificial intelligence. He is chair of the WISE AI SIG .