With the presidential election looming, UW-Madison, like the rest of the country, is in a time of heated political turmoil. This Monday, a campus group called Project Youthanize is hoping to encourage discussion and political awareness in Madison with the premier screening of its documentary, Youthanized,"" at the Memorial Union Play Circle.
Project Youthanize, spearheaded by a small group of concerned Madisonians, has set out to discuss whether Generation Y is uniquely apathetic to the political process.
The Project Youthanize crew, composed primarily of UW students, interviewed many notable political players for ""Youthanized,"" including former Chancellor John Wiley, former MTV News correspondent Gideon Yago, former ""Daily Show"" and ""Colbert Report"" producer Ben Karlin and many politically involved students on campus.
Mark Korshak, a recent UW grad, is the leading force behind the project. Korshak said his idea for the project was inspired by a political science class he took as an undergrad.
""I had this thought. It didn't quite get to the documentary yet, but it was like, 'This is worth exploring,'"" Korshak said.
The next step was deciding just what to do. Korshak said the answer came to him while comparing today's students to those in Madison from the politicized 1960s. ""I just thought to myself, 'well, why don't I make a documentary about this and kind of do a comparison?'""
Korshak hopes to spark conversation between students and staff on what issues concern Generation Y and how those issues compare to historic generations.
""It's history,"" Korshak said. ""You're learning about what went on here in the '60s. It's not an election piece, really. It's really on the issues."" He later added, ""By the nature of this subject, this is an inherently progressive film.""
The documentary, since its inception, has grown into something much larger. What started out as a documentary has morphed into a miniseries for the WisconsinEye network. It has become a movement, according to Korshak.
Project Youthanize, Korshak said, is essentially a call to action for all of the non-politically minded at UW, a major challenge for such a large, diverse campus. Still, Korshak is determined to reach students who don't have the time to get involved or interested in politics.
""We don't want to preach to the choir here ... We want to kind of be the place of information for kids who haven't been interested in the past,"" Korshak said.
According to Korshak, the overall message of ""Youthanize"" will differ depending on the audience.
""You're going to run into a group of people who are going to say this is calling people to action or whatever, but I don't see it that way. I really see it as being something positive.""
A discussion of the documentary's themes will follow the screening Monday.
Project Youthanized will also host three presidential debates this month in Memorial Union - starting Sept. 26 - to coincide with the nationally televised debates.
