Penn Students Find Community To Watch Debate at Annenberg
The first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump was held in Philadelphia, as was a watch party at the Annenberg School for Communication.
More than 175 students from across Penn's campus, along with Walter H. Annenberg Dean Saran Banet-Weiser, Professor Kathleen Hall Jamieson, and Annenberg staff, came together to watch the first Donald Trump and Kamala Harris debate at Annenberg last night.
Among them was Zoie Weinsweig, a junior majoring in Neuroscience. She said that being from a small town in southern Ohio, she was looking forward to hearing the opinions of different students.
“In the town I grew up in, I felt I heard similar opinions from everyone,” she said. “I am looking forward to hearing mu hearing multiple opinions at this event, especially as this will be the first year I vote.”
Weinsweig heard about the event through her roommate and decided to come with her friend Maddie Schenken, a junior at Wharton. She said that she had planned to stay in her room and watch the debate by herself, but when she heard about the watch party, she decided to join.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be at Annenberg for the debate watch party,” she said. “I’ve taken a couple of classes here, and am so excited to watch the debate tonight.”
In her opening remarks, Walter H. Annenberg Dean Sarah Banet-Weiser emphasized the importance of gathering as a community to watch and absorb this landmark event together.
“Watching the debate allows our students to use the tools they’ve gained in the classroom to dissect how political information, and sometimes misinformation, is presented during this very contentious presidential race,” she later added.
Classrooms in the Annenberg Forum were transformed into dedicated viewing spaces, with screens tuned to ABC, CNN, Fox News, and NBC.
Students in Jamieson's "Introduction to Political Communication" class were assigned to watch specific outlets’ pre- and post-debate coverage and tasked with noting any biases, key talking points, and the overall tone.
Also in the audience were Communication majors Isabel Sweeney and Elizabeth Collins, who were recording interviews with students and faculty for their Instagram channel, Penn on Video.
Sweeney, who is a senior at Penn, said that she is interested in hearing both candidates' economic plans during the debate. “I am taking Professor Jamieson's class and looking forward to watching with everyone," she said. "This is one Annenberg opportunity I didn’t want to miss.”
“Presidential debates are not just about watching candidates face-off,” Jamieson says. “They also give us an opportunity to understand the broader media ecosystem that surrounds political events.”
This will be the first time that Deontae Johnson, a sophomore majoring in Psychology, will vote in a presidential election. He came to the watch party with friends from the Department of History and was looking forward to hearing more about where the candidates stand on different issues and to take in the event with other people.
The watch party is just one of many events that Annenberg will be hosting to highlight the critical role that the field of Communication plays in understanding politics, rhetoric, and media.
