Politics and personal journeys: Sonoma State students and OLLI seniors share multi-generational class

Midterm elections have sparked big debates over our nation's political climate, and one local university is tackling that discussion in a unique way. KTVU's Jana Katsuyama visited a political science class at Sonoma State today, where personal stories from different generations have become pathways to understanding. At Sonoma State University... Here's a midterm share of the National House vote. Professor David McEwen's political science class is analyzing what he calls the mother of all midterms. The students, who were taking notes on laptops or notepaper, are mostly seniors. I'm a fourth year. I graduate in May. I'm an Osher Lifelong Learning student. This is a mixed generation class with students from Sonoma State and students from OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Everything you're not supposed to discuss at the dinner table at Thanksgiving, we're doing that in the class every Tuesday. We have people that have been voting for over 50 years, and we have people like myself who have been voting for Not even five yet. It is a first for Professor McEwen and his students. Being able to see older viewpoints and people who have lived throughout many different presidents and presidential administrations have been very interesting. That was the first time I've seen that, and it was really nice to have. The young folks and the mature folks together. Sitting side by side, they're diving deep into our country's politics and learning that behind each data point and demographic that might seem to divide us, there are personal life journeys shaping each political perspective. This is me as a Goldwater girl in 1964 when Barry Goldwater took a whistle stop. Tour on the train around the Midwest, and I was in high school, I was about 16, and five years later, after going to university, I turned blue. For their finals, the Sonoma State students aren't doing papers, but personal interviews with the older students. Their final is that they are going to interview three or four. OLLI's students, the undergraduates, will interview them in a political biography. Just got interviewed by Greta for her class. How did that go? She's wonderful. I mentioned how thrilled I was when Barack Obama was elected in 2008. And it turns out the student had the same experience. He was only five years old. Tuesday's class. ...was the final group gathering. All the seniors, they're very interesting to talk to, and not even just outside of the interviews, just speaking to them in class, they always offer a different perspective. We honestly have built friendships with these people. They feel like a peer, and I'm kind of sad it's our last class today because I wish they were here until the end. The Osher Foundation has given out about 125 Lifelong Learning Grants nationwide, and Professor McEwen says he already has ideas for future classes. to bring these multi-generational students together. Reporting from Sonoma State University in Santa Rosa, Jana Katsuyama, KTVU, Fox 2 News.