The senior is helping foster places for youth to find their people, and with it their motivation to vote and engage
Seona Maskara, A26, believes civic engagement changes the way you see the world. “It builds hope,” they said. Photo: Alonso Nichols
Seona Maskara, A26, thinks a lot about how to get her fellow youth invested in civic life. She’s learned that young people are best able to engage and vote when they have a space that encourages them to learn about political issues. These spaces, or “political homes,” can be all types of communities.
“We did a survey. We asked, “What is your political home?” Maskara said. “Answers were, ‘My church is my political home,’ ‘My sports team is my political home,’ ‘My video game club is my political home.’ Just all these spaces where they can talk to others. It doesn’t need to be political in nature.”
Maskara, who uses she/they pronouns, has helped study the benefits of these spaces for the Political Homes project of CIRCLE, the Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life.
The work on political homes, led by Senior Researcher Sara Suzuki, is part of Maskara’s commitment to ensuring others have the tools they need to be informed and engaged citizens. Since the international relations and civic studies major’s sophomore year, they have been researching youth civic engagement at CIRCLE. They also serve as co-president of JumboVote, a nonpartisan organization at Tufts dedicated to promoting civic engagement and voter turnout.
They will be sharing research findings from a forthcoming paper about the Political Homes project at the TedXTufts conference on Feb. 28, where Maskara will be the only undergraduate student speaker.
What are political homes?
Young people are best able to engage in civic life when they have a community that encourages them to vote, go to a protest, volunteer, help a neighbor, and go to a town hall meeting.
The project’s research has shown that organizations are most effective as political homes when they welcome student voices and are open to feedback and meeting needs, whether that’s paying youth, having resume workshops, learning about politics, having youth in key roles, or having space for belonging.
Not having the resources is a huge reason why young people, especially youth of color, impoverished youth, and marginalized youth don’t vote.
How have you implemented what you learned from the Political Homes project into the rest of what you do at Tufts?
I’ve been examining the spaces that I’m a part of on campus and how they can grow. I was able to teach a freshman level Civic Pathways class in the fall, where freshmen can plan out how they want to make civic engagement a priority during their time at Tufts. It felt important to me that that space was able to be a political home for them.
Another way is with JumboVote. We’re always looking to partner with new clubs and help that club become a political home. We’re coming in, we’re telling people how to vote, and we’re exploring how voting relates to something that the club cares about, such as leading a workshop for Tufts Climate Action on lobbying and researching an elected official’s climate action.
What first got you interested in civic engagement and voting rights?
I’m from Wisconsin. I’m a lesbian, I’m Indian, I’m a first generation American. I grew up in a town that was mostly white. I grew up with all this in a swing state, where there’s just this constant bombardment because people are always trying to win your vote. I grew up knowing my vote was important, but I didn’t know what to do about it. There are so many barriers that come with voting. I am a U.S. citizen, I have this right to vote, but at times, I just feel like my voice isn’t heard because of a lack of representation.
As someone who did face racism in school settings, unfortunately, and did feel out of place, I saw that there were policies that I was passionate about changing to create a more inclusive environment.
I ended up joining a political home of my own the summer before my freshman year here at Tufts, which was with When We All Vote, and they have a suborganization under it called My School Votes. This place helped me put it into words why voting is important. At some point in your life, you’ll feel displaced and powerless. You do have this way to change it, whether it’s voting, going to a school board meeting, or showing up to a protest.
Why do you think students at Tufts, and beyond, should consider being more civically engaged?
I believe that civic engagement changes the way that you see the world, especially if you’re doing so with a political home. If I were to tell anyone why they should consider having more regular civic engagement in their life, I would say, because it builds hope, and I think that’s a very powerful tool in a time that feels very hopeless.
