Trying to Make Sense of Our Democracy
Political Cartoonist Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher was an IRC Artist-In-Residence from 2006-2015. With generous support from the College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences, the Sondheim Scholars Program, and the Office of Institutional Advancement, KAL created USDemocrazy, a website and blog built for teenagers to engage in the discussion of American politics.
The blog, which was published through 2015, was staffed by fifteen UMBC students, most of whom were Sondheim Scholars or Media and Communication Studies majors. Each student made at least one post a week, ensuring that the blog was regularly updated. KAL worked as an editor for and mentor to the students, working with them one-on-one each week as they developed their posts. They meet regularly to discuss events, look at the site’s current statistics, and make plans for the coming weeks. It’s been a tremendous experience for the students learning how to operate a large daily news aggregator blog.
USDemocrazy successfully engaged readers not only on campus but all over the world, receiving over 140,000 unique visits from 147 countries.
KAL also worked with the IRC on The Digital Dubya an innovative three-dimensional caricature of President G. W. Bush.
Researchers and Creators
Project Director: Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher
Information Design: Bonnie Crawford, Veronica Noone
Web Design: Abbey Salvo, Gina Thropp, Veronica Noone, Jamie Nola, Michell Matir
Flash Animation: Jamie Nola, Rachel Kreutzinger
Bloggers: Joseph Achsaha, Belawoe Akwakoku, Alexandra Alton, Dave Anguish, Vikram Bambawale, Monica Berron, Megan Carpenter, Mitch Case, Jake Dillon, Dinah Douglas, Ahmed Eissa, Mahaelet Gennene, Maren Gonzales, Ashby Henningsen, Andy Holter, Jackson Houbolt, Susan Keen, Julianna Kuhn, Laura Lefavor, Caitlin Leiter-Mason, Jess Manzo, Patrice Mathews, Stefanie Mavronis, Rachael Mueller, Kaspar Nilsson, Valerie Parks, Sayre Posey, Ebonie Riley, Martha Rusk, Virgil Thomas, Molissa Udevita, Rose Wallace
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