BY KAREN BOSSICK
Learn about the shifting racial, technological and political patterns in America’s electorate from the rise of the Tea Party and Donald Trump on the political left to #blacklivesmatter and The Resistance on the political left.
David Domke, professor and chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Washington, will tell all in a free lecture titled “America in Transformation” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 31, at Ketchum’s Community library.
Domke helped launch Common Purpose to mobilize voters and build community for discussion. The organization also develops leaders who are willing to cross boundaries to solve problems.
Domke notes that the United States is in a time of tectonic social change, comparable to some of the most defining eras in the nation’s history. And the impact and implications are omnipresent with the civic choices we make today and in the months to come defining the nation’s future.
We cannot stand on the sidelines; we must engage, he says.
He is fond of quoting civil rights activist Joanne Bland: “A puzzle isn’t complete until the last piece is in place. What is the piece you’re going to contribute?”
Domke worked as a journalist during the 1980s and early 1990s. His research has focused on communication, politics and public opinion. And he is committed to interracial and intergenerational community building, having taken part in civil rights pilgrimages to the United States’ South in 2014.
He has received many awards, including the University of Washington’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the title of Washington State Professor of the Year.