Twenty journalists from 20 countries will join Drake students to talk Iowa caucus politics this Thursday, Sept. 24.

The journalists will first meet with Drake politics professor Dennis Goldford to learn more about caucuses and Iowa’s role in the presidential selection process, then meet with 19 students for presentations and discussion in Lee Jolliffe’s First Year Seminar, The Iowa Caucuses: Grassroots Politics on a Global Stage.

Students in the Iowa Caucus FYS will give a presentation for the visitors about how social media has changed young people’s experiences of presidential selection politics. The participants will also meet in small groups to talk about young adults’ experience of free press, democracy, and political participation—key issues identified by the U.S. State Department, sponsor of the visit.

Janet Norton, of the Iowa International Center, is working with Drake to make the Iowa segment of the visitors’ trip as informative and smooth-running as possible. The larger visit, encompassing other cities and learning experiences, is hosted by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and U.S. Department of State, and is part of the International Visitor Leadership Program. This particular study trip is called The U.S. Political System: Background for Journalists, and the journalists selected are from many continents and countries.

Among the guests are prominent journalists from Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Croatia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Italy, Nigeria, Paraguay, People’s Republic of China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Taiwan, Tunisia, and Turkey.

—Submitted by Lee Joliffe, Associate Professor of Journalism