MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Penn State Harrisburg’s School of Humanities and School of Public Affairs will host an event featuring interactive discussions on voting rights, the Constitution and civic engagement from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 22 in the Capital Union Building (Room 210) on campus. Presenters include Sarah Harris of the National Constitution Center, Scott Blanchard and Tim Lambert of WITF, and Keith Gaddie, executive faculty fellow at the University of Oklahoma.

The discussion, open to local high school students, will include segments on the constitutional amendments that concern voting rights; how to have civil dialogues about the Constitution and other matters; and gerrymandering and elections. 

Gaddie will also lead a late afternoon presentation on “Voting Rights and Elections after the Second Reconstruction” from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the Hanes Library's Morrison Gallery. This presentation is open to the public.

Sarah Harris is director of education at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She will provide “tools to talk” for having a civil dialogue about voting rights and other constitutional rights in the U.S. She will also review some of the constitutional amendments related to voting rights and how they affect citizen rights and participation.

Scott Blanchard is director of journalism at WITF (NPR and PBS) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Tim Lambert is Morning Edition host at WITF. They will lead an interactive session on civic dialogue about the news and public policy, including voting rights.

Ronald Keith Gaddie is Executive Faculty Fellow at the University of Oklahoma and general editor of Social Science Quarterly. He is the author of “Democracy’s Meanings,” “The Rise and Fall of the Voting Rights Act,” and other books. He has testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about voting rights. He will provide an interactive introduction to “Gerrymandering and Other Election Funny Business.”