People around the world who fight injustice often have difficulty spreading their message. That’s a situation some Marquette University faculty and students are working to change.
The Marquette Democracy project, an initiative of two MU political science professors, brought four international activists during the Spring 2017 semester to interact with Marquette students and speak to the greater community about their work. Through classroom visits, public forums and interviews with student journalists, the activists shared their experiences of putting their lives on the line for a cause.
“There’s something about being in the presence of people who are risking their lives to make a difference that inspires students,” said Dr. Jessica Rich, assistant professor of political science, and one of the founders of the MDP.
Rich and Dr. Barrett McCormick, professor of political science, created the MDP to serve as a platform for activists and to provide real-world experience for MU students. They won the support of their department and the College of Arts and Sciences, who sponsored the activists’ visits.
Each guest activist visited their class, the Political Science Capstone Seminar, spoke in public forums, and were interviewed by students from collaborating journalism and digital media classes from the College of Communication.
The MDP’s inaugural series included four activists during the spring semester:
- Friar Tomas from Mexico spoke about giving shelter, food and care to migrants from Central America passing through Mexico;
- Clare Byarugaba talked about her work as an LGBT activist in Uganda;
- Maryam Al-Khawaja from Bahrain, whose father is in prison for speaking out against abuses, and who herself is in exile, shared stories about her fight for rights and democracy in Bahrain;
- And social media activist Wael Ghonim, originally from Egypt, given political asylum in the U.S., talked about his experience in launching a social media campaign against the Egyptian government during the Arab Spring.
MDP has made it possible to complement the study of social movements through the lens of the academics who write about them “with people who are actually dedicating their lives toward pursuing social justice on the ground,” said Rich.
Written By Rachel Kiefer, Nicholas Molina, Dana Potts and Max Templin