Calling all future political journalists — the exclusive battleground states class is back. This time, American University students are heading to Richmond, Virginia, where they will cover the state and lieutenant governor elections this November.
The class, which is open to undergraduate and graduate students of all majors, gives students the opportunity to analyze news coverage, campaign strategy and voter perspectives from right on the ground.
“Students are learning by doing, by engaging in interviews with voters, interactions with candidates, observing campaign events,” said Molly O’Rourke, an executive in residence in the School of Communication and professor of the class. “Instead of being in the classroom, having us talk about how to do those things … they are actually out there doing it for five really intensive days.”
Ethan Cesar, who graduated from the University in 2024 and took the Presidential Primaries course last spring, said his experience “being in the field and getting to talk to voters …prospective voters or supporters in real time” was invaluable. In fact, one of his favorite memories from the trip was getting to talk to voters at a rally for President Donald Trump.
“I talked to 19-year-olds and, you know, people in their 40s and their 50s, and I think just being dropped in the field like that so quickly was so so memorable and helped really set the tone for the rest of the trip,” Cesar said about his time in New Hampshire. “So just getting to actually, you know, I mean, see Trump speak, live, be immersed in that interesting environment.”
The field experience course started in 2008 as a “Presidential Primaries” class, where students traveled to New Hampshire to cover the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. The class then expanded in 2020, taking students to South Carolina, as well.
In recent years, the class has expanded even further to cover more than just the presidential races, like the Pennsylvania midterms in 2022, which included the Fetterman-Oz U.S. Senate race and the Shapiro-Mastriano governor race. The class last visited Virginia in 2021 to cover the gubernatorial race between Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin.
“The opportunity to kind of be in our backyard in Virginia, where before we go into the field, there’ll be so much coverage of the campaign and of the race, because of our proximity at AU to the race, but also, in some ways, it allows the students, to really get very, very close up to the candidates,” O’Rourke said.
Any student interested in the Battleground Virginia class must submit an application by March 6, including an essay explaining why they want to take the class and why they would be a good fit for the demands of the course. O’Rourke said her advice to students is to approach the essay in a way that is “personal and distinct.”
“Think about what you hope to gain out of the class. Not ‘I’m just kind of interested in politics,’ or ‘I’ve always loved, you know, watching reruns of The West Wing,’” O’Rourke said. “But how the class might fit into their either career goals or their research goals.”
During the course, Cesar said he struggled with always being comfortable in the field and sometimes didn’t “feel like [he] had the credentials to be going up to strangers and asking them questions.”
Despite that, Cesar advises anyone interested in applying for the course to “go into it with an open mind.”
“Be ready to talk to people. Get to know your classmates really well, because they’re going to be your safety net,” Cesar said. “No matter how you prepare mentally, physically, emotionally, to get ready, to be in the field like that, it’s a completely different ball game.”
Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that the class is cross-listed in SOC and SPA.
This article was edited by Payton Anderson and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Olivia Citarella and Hannah Langenfeld.
