EVENTS

ADULT CIVIC EDUCATION EVENTS

Prof. Michael Krasner, Director of The Taft Institute, has provided a variety of Taft Teachers Seminars, as well as forums and civic courses for organizations like Let's Talk Democracy, since 2017.

Check back regularly for upcoming events.

UPCOMING TAFT SEMINARS

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- TAFT INSTITUTE PRESENTS -

Teaching the 2026 Midterm Elections: Are They Already Rigged?

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026, 8:00-8:00PM EST

This Taft Institute Seminar for educators teaching high school students the issues surrounding the upcoming 2026 midterm elections. Join us for an in-depth, hands-on seminar designed especially for teachers, with analysis from a policial science perspective to inform peer group lesson planning.

In the first hour, Dr. Michael Krasner, associate professor emeritus of political science (Queens College, City University of New York) will review what critics say are the forms of election rigging already established in the United States, including: Intimidating election officials...Harassing voter registration campaigns...Gerrymandering election districts...Limiting or sabotaging mail-in voting...Purging voter rolls...Restricting early voting.

Then there are the potential threats to the Midterm Elections, including: Sending ICE agents to urban polling sites to disrupt voting or intimidate voters...Seizing ballot boxes...Preventing a fair count in order to allow election officials or state legislatures to overturn the results of the voting.

The second part of the Seminar will be devoted to Breakout Workshops in which teachers discuss how to use these materials to make specific lesson plans. The workshops will be facilitated by Professor Krasner, and by Don McLean, of Queens Technical High School, the Taft Institute’s Senior Teaching Associate, and by Catherine Tsouristakis, Assistant Principal emerita of Social Studies at Newtown High School in Queens.

Attend this seminar and and receive a stipend: Active participation in the workshops qualifies participants for the first $300 stipend. The second $300 stipend is earned by implementing the lesson developed (or creating and implementing a different lesson) in a classroom setting, and providing written and oral feedback on how it worked at a second seminar on November 18th, 6:00-8:00 pm. (Please contact us at makrasner@gmail.com if that date presents a problem.)

TAFT INSTITUTE PRESENTS: Trump 2.0 - America on the Brink

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2026, 7:00-8:30PM EST

Join the Taft Institute for an in-depth analysis of President Trump’s first year by Professor Michael Krasner, who will discuss these crucial questions:

• How has Trump, along with his allies and minions—from billionaires to ICE to the Supreme Court and Congress—changed American politics?

• Can resistance—such as the Minnesota protests and No Kings movement—succeed in this changed system?

• How can the 2026 midterm elections be protected (and won)?

FREE VIRTUAL EVENT -- OPEN TO ALL

Zoom login will be provided upon registration

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- TAFT INSTITUTE ANNUAL VIRTUAL SEMINAR -

Teaching the Current Moment in America: Is the Constitution Threatened?

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 2025, 6:00 - 8:00PM EST

Teach your students to analyze in a balanced way – using facts and logic – whether or not the actions by the present administration have put our Constitutional system of checks and balances at risk.

Part 1: An analytical framework and several case studies.

Part 2: Breakout workshops in which teachers discuss how to use these materials to make a specific lesson plan.

Workshop sessions will be facilitated by Professor Krasner, Professor Jack Zevin, Taft’s Co-Director and Professor Emeritus of Education at Queens College, by Don McLean of Queens Technical High School and Taft’s Senior Teaching Associate, and by Catherine Tsouristakis, Assistant Principal for Social Studies at Newtown High School in Queens.