The Future of Gerrymandering Teach-Out

Welcome to the Future of Gerrymandering Teach-Out! We will discuss the topic of gerrymandering, considering everything from its history of the original gerrymander, to the current United States Supreme Court cases. You will hear from leading experts on gerrymandering as well as citizen groups who are on the front lines of the redistricting debate. The three faculty instructors and the "guides" for the Teach-Out are Lija Hogan, John Chamberlin and Nancy Wang, short biographies below:

Lija Hogan

Lija has specialized in usability and user needs research, the design and maintenance of large-scale web and mobile sites, and building professional UX teams for over 15 years. Currently, she is a Director of Solutions Consulting at UserTesting and teaches in the School of Information at the University of Michigan. She also teaches in the University of Michigan Micromasters MOOC program. She is a graduate of the University of Michigan (MSI), The University of Chicago (MLA), and the University of Pennsylvania (BA). She is also a Board Member for Voters Not Politicians.

John Chamberlin

John Chamberlin is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and Public Policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. He has long standing interests in ethics in public life and methods of election and representation, including legislative redistricting. He has served on the boards of several good government organizations, including Common Cause and the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.

Nancy Wang

Nancy is a Clinical Assistant Professor and the Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. Nancy has been interested in redistricting since 2002, when she worked on a case that highlighted the impact that decision-making around maps can have on election results. In 2016, she joined Voters Not Politicians (VNP), a nonpartisan grassroots group dedicated to ending gerrymandering in Michigan, which has some of the worst gerrymandered election maps in the country. As Policy Director, she led a team of more than three dozen volunteers, including political scientists, lawyers, retired judges, small business owners, students, and retirees, who took input from Michigan voters across the state, community groups, and national redistricting experts, and crafted a proposal "for and by the people" of Michigan. Voters Not Politicians proposes to amend the Michigan constitution through the initiative process to establish a 13-member Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission that would take politicians out of Michigan's redistricting process. In 2017, VNP volunteers collected over 425,000 petition signatures -- 100,000 more than necessary to qualify the proposal for the ballot in the November 2018 General Election. In 2018, Nancy was elected President of VNP.