With November’s midterm elections quickly approaching, the campaign ads, media coverage, and candidate back-and-forth can seem — well, overwhelming. The day-to-day conversations of who’s up, who’s down, and where the candidates are campaigning blend with political ads and campaign flyers, leaving citizen’s long on information, but often short on substance.

What are the issues influencing the midterm elections? How will policies such as Obamacare and Common Core standards impact YOU – the voter, the citizen? How are we – the campaigns, the news, society – talking about those policies?

Join Duke University’s Office of Public Affairs and Government Relations and Duke in Washington, along with the Forum for Scholars and Publics, for a discussion series that will take an in-depth look at the issues central to the midterm elections. Each session will feature conversations between Duke University professors and experts in Washington, D.C., along with the participation of audiences on campus and in nation’s capital.

Register now for the first session, “Setting the Stage: Mid-Term Overview,” an election scene-setter that will provide a look at the current election landscape. Leading the discussion on campus will be Duke University professors David Rohde and Tommy Sowers; and in Washington, D.C., Brent McGoldrick, a veteran of two presidential campaigns with experience in Get Out the Vote and microtargeting campaign tactics. The discussion will take place Thursday, September 18, from 4:00pm-5:00pm.

In Washington, participants will gather in the Duke in Washington Conference Room at 1201 New York Ave, NW, Suite 1110. On campus, participants will gather at the Forum for Scholars and Publics, located in 011 Old Chem.

These conversations are open to the public and video footage of the discussions will be available online here following the events. Come for one or come for them all, these conversations promise to be engaging and enlightening.

See the full schedule here.