Program News and Updates

After 40 years of working in Illinois state politics as a legislative and gubernatorial staffer, contract lobbyist, and coalition manager, Jennifer Morrison reflected on the challenges in today’s political climate to making representative democracy work. She concluded that women legislators are among those most likely to be part of the solution. To further...

This month we celebrate the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage. The legal right of women to vote was established nationally in the United States with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in August 1920. Prior to the passage of 19th Amendment, women had the right to vote in various elections in a number of states and localities. While...

This summer, statues and memorials of former presidents and public leaders have toppled or been removed in a reckoning with the nation’s profound legacy of racism. As the country grapples with that legacy, the time is ripe for an examination of whom we choose to memorialize. In particular, we must look for those who have made important contributions to our...

This August marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification and adoption of the 19th Amendment, which extended the right to vote to American women nationwide. Though full suffrage for all women, specifically women of color, would continue to be denied for many more decades through discriminatory legislation, political machinations, and domestic terrorism...

The Center for American Women and Politics was founded to examine and disrupt the gender bias built into America’s political institutions. But these institutions – formal and informal – were also constructed to privilege whiteness. To uphold that privilege, entire communities have been dehumanized, exploited, endangered, and disempowered. Our work has made...

These days, hand-shaking, baby kissing, and door-knocking are scary and flout social distancing rules. The traditional ways candidates literally reach out and touch voters have been put on hold due to the coronavirus. No more direct contact means it’s necessary to master the art of being a virtual candidate. Making the shift to online campaigning isn’t as...

This post is part of a series on teaching students about women and American politics. See the firt post in the series, Engaging Students Online: Resources and Activities on Women in American Politics, here. As more parents and educators adapt to our new reality of online learning, many are searching for educational topics that will keep the children in their...

This post is based on the author's live webinar presentation: “Campaigning During COVID, Part I”, as offered by the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP) a unit of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Download and follow along with the accompanying Power Point presentation. Part II’s webinar will be on Campaign Tactics and...

This post is the beginning of a series on teaching students about women in American politics. Stay tuned for more posts in the series with resources and activities geared toward students K-12. You can also check out the CAWP Teach a Girl to Lead® initiative for more teaching tools and activity ideas. The past few weeks have seen K-12 schools and colleges...

Every year, the Center for American Women and Politics supports an internship through the Rutgers-Eagleton Washington Internship Award Program that provides financial assistance to interns in the nation’s capital. This is made possible due to the generosity of Susan N. Wilson in establishing the Katherine K. Neuberger Legacy Fund in honor of her mother, a...