EXCO 180 - GerrymanderCo

1 credit
This course serves as an introduction to redistricting, a process that occurs in both the United States and most other countries with some form of a national legislature. In the United States, redistricting typically involves the adjustment of congressional and state legislative districts to account for population changes. The lack of oversight in this process, unfortunately, has given rise to a practice called gerrymandering, through which the lawmakers assigned to redrawing political maps manipulate the boundaries to serve their own interests. This course will provide an explanation for how redistricting works, a history of the different types of gerrymandering (both within the U.S. and abroad), and why it matters immensely in the grand scheme of things. Additionally, students will be introduced to different mapping websites that allow them to draw maps of their own through both individual and group projects. There will be an hourly session each week, where we will both go over certain concepts and respond to discussion questions relevant to that week’s reading and/or video material(s). By the end of the class, students will both understand how gerrymandering works and how to draw maps of their own.

Daniel Marsh
dmarsh1@oberlin.edu
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