Syllabus is an ongoing series of stories that gives readers an inside look at some of Susquehanna’s most interesting classes.
The Class: Making Democracy Work, ENGL 385
The Professor: Betsy Verhoeven, English & Creative Writing
In an era when political polarization fractures families and communities, students in the Making Democracy Work course examine the root of the crisis and explore how citizens can cooperate and communicate effectively in spite of personal differences.
“The main goal is for students to learn how to better understand the motivations at the core of our political stances and how to better understand their own positions and those of people on ‘the other side’ — and that disagreement is healthy and necessary to democracy,” said Betsy Verhoeven, co-department head and associate professor of English & creative writing. “There is a lot of agreement across political parties about issues we need to address, but little patience and generosity toward themselves and others.”
Verhoeven’s inspiration for designing the course stemmed from a desire to revive the once common and vital study of rhetoric in the context of citizenship and civic discourse. But it also arose from deeply personal concerns.
A course like Making Democracy Work helps people cut through the noise and see political messaging for what it is through critical thinking and analysis.
Emma Ritter ’26
“This class developed in large degree out of my own concerns about the health of democratic communication,” she explained. Verhoeven observed how her neighbors deliberately avoided political discussions to prevent hard feelings, and she witnessed the same reluctance among people in churches, clubs and even students in classrooms. This raised a fundamental question: How can we sustain a functioning democracy if citizens cannot openly and constructively talk with one another about the issues that matter most?
Verhoeven’s course traces the development of democratic ideals from ancient Greece to modern America while examining how people think and act politically. Students learn how to engage in productive dialogue, evaluate political claims and build credibility through shared values and authenticity. The class also explores the limits of civil debate, when stronger responses may be necessary in the face of injustice, and how rhetoric shapes community values and beliefs — often driven more by emotion and bias than pure logic.
“Our current society is set up to be divided and often pitted against each other, but those are not the ideals of democracy that our country was founded on. A course like Making Democracy Work helps people cut through the noise and see political messaging for what it is through critical thinking and analysis,” said Emma Ritter ’26, a double major in publishing & editing and creative writing from Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, reflecting on the course.
Alexander Cardwell ’28, a management major with a minor in philosophy and the Honors Program from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, chose a to attend a liberal arts university like Susquehanna because he wanted more than just career-specific training — he wanted to graduate as a well-rounded, thoughtful individual, deeply informed about the world and ready to engage meaningfully with the issues that matter most to him.
“Understanding how rhetoric works might be one of the most important things someone could learn, because without it, we are misinformed about how discourse happens,” Cardwell said. “One day, I may need to help coworkers navigate political discord. When I find myself in that sort of situation, I know that I’ll be able to rely on what I’ve learned in this class to help navigate the issue.”
