Course Description:   With the coming 2024 elections, this course will introduce students to state and county government and politics. Some of the topics to be covered will include the issues; the players; how government works or doesn’t; positions on the state and county ballots; referenda on the ballot. (Note:  We will not be supporting or opposing any candidates or political parties)

Location:  Harbor Club

Dates/Times:  Thursdays Jan 18 to Feb 15, from 2 pm - 3:15 pm. 

Instructor: Ruth Brandwein

Ruth Brandwein has her Ph.D. from the Heller School at Brandeis University. She was a professor and Dean at Stony Brook School of Social Welfare, where she taught courses on social policy, feminist theory and social and organizational change. She was Director of the school’s Social Justice Center, where she organized annual conferences applying social justice to legislative advocacy. She has written and lectured nationally and internationally and presented a paper on social justice and social work at the International Association of Schools of Social Work in Durban, South Africa. Ruth applies theory to action through her work as the State President of NASW-PACE, the social work political action committee for state candidate endorsements, and as the Sarasota Chair of the League of Women Voters Health Committee. She is a frequent instructor at PCU on a wide range of topics in the news.