The Manship School of Mass Communication will welcome former Sen. John Breaux to the school in the fall as he teaches a new 4000-level political communication elective focusing on the inner workings of politics in the nation’s capital.
With 34 years of experience representing Louisiana in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, Sen. Breaux is an expert for the class, said Martin Johnson, the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the Manship School.
“In terms of understanding Washington and understanding contemporary politics, you’re just not going to find many people who are not in office today that have the level of expertise and depth that Sen. Breaux has,” Johnson said.
Sen. Breaux said he will focus on why Congress and government have problems, and what the average citizen can do to improve the system.
“We see a tremendous amount of turmoil in Washington D.C. today and a tremendous amount of change,” Johnson said. “Understanding all of those changes and the context of the policy making process and how Washington works is, I think, the main thing everybody hopes to get out of this. Bringing Sen. Breaux back to Louisiana to help explain to our students and to the broader community what’s going on in Washington — what are the problems and the dysfunctions, what are the opportunities, what sources of optimism we may have, that sort of thing.”
Having taught a number of times at different universities such as LSU, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Tulane University, Sen. Breaux is familiar with the college atmosphere; however, he said this will be his first time teaching on a regular basis.
Not only will he be available to students, but the community will also be able to hear Sen. Breaux speak next semester. Johnson said one of the elements to having Sen. Breaux join the Manship School are several public talks for the community to listen to him speak on different areas of politics.
Sen. Breaux said he hopes students will walk away from his class with an appreciation for their own government and why it is important for them to be involved.
“I think too many people in the country complain about government but don’t really involve themselves in any way of trying to make it work better,” Sen. Breaux said. “Hopefully after we finish our classes people will say, ‘I can help to make it better and here’s what I’d like to be able to do in order to accomplish that.’ If I can give them a sense of optimism that all is not lost, and that they can work to make things better, I think that would be a good achievement for everybody.”