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What can Back to the Future teach us about US nuclear regulations?

REEL-LIFE CIVICS: As an intern with the national, nonpartisan organization Civic Genius, Becky Frank ’24 used movies from the ’80s and ’90s, including the sci-fi classic Back to the Future, to explain aspects of US federal, state, and local government and increase civic engagement. (University of Rochester photo / Michelle Kleinhammer)

Rebecca Frank’s undergraduate internship taps into pop culture to boost civic engagement on social media.

Let’s be honest—what do you really know about how the US government regulates nuclear energy and materials? What exactly can be sold, bought, or stored—legally—and by whom?

Thanks to Rebecca (Becky) Frank ’25, who just completed the requirements for a bachelor’s degree in political science and Spanish at the University of Rochester, here’s the 200-second Instagram version to fill you in.

Based on the 1985 sci-fi movie Back to the Future, Frank—tongue-in-cheek—teases out what’s possible and what may land you, well, on the FBI’s wanted list. Or as Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox’s character) put it succinctly: “Doc, you don’t just walk into a store and buy plutonium!”

Frank’s video, performed by Civic Genius’s executive director Jillian Youngblood, is part of a series of social media clips produced by the national, nonpartisan organization that seeks to increase Americans’ civic engagement. Using well-known movies from the ’80s and ’90s, the clips explain specific aspects of federal, state, and local government in the US.

Frank wrote the script and produced the video as part of an internship offered in partnership between the University of Rochester’s Democracy Center and Civic Genius. Founded by a prominent Rochester area business leader, Howard Konar, Civic Genius—now a program of the National Civic League—provides educational programming and facilitates discussions to try to help Americans engage as democratic citizens.

This internship really helped me put together everything I have learned throughout my political science courses and see how they apply in the real world.”

Besides the Back to the Future explainer, Frank also worked on three other blockbuster-based videos yet to be released: the movie Titanic to explain maritime law, The Predator to dive into the concept of executive action, and Die Hard to delve into the US Department of the Treasury’s bearer bonds.

So far, six Rochester undergraduates have gone through the program that began in the fall of 2022.

“Students who participate in the internship get hands-on experience in civic education,” says Stuart Jordan, the associate director of the Democracy Center and an associate professor in the University’s Department of Political Science. “It allows students to explore the practical implications of some of the conceptual puzzles they encounter in the academic study of democratic politics.”

Frank says she was intrigued to learn what factors can determine a person’s civic participation and why it matters: “It’s important for the general public to become involved in mixed-group discussion across political lines, in order to gain a greater understanding of others’ perspectives.”

Going forward, Frank plans to attend law school and eventually practice family law.

“This internship really helped me put together everything I have learned throughout my political science courses and see how they apply in the real world,” she says. Frank wants to remain involved with organizations that focus on encouraging political participation and civic engagement, trying to play her part in reducing society’s polarization, and helping to normalize productive political discourse.

“As an organization,” Jordan says, “Civic Genius is a great partner for the Democracy Center because it focuses on increasing the civic capacity of all Americans, regardless of their partisanship or policy views.”

Great Scott! Watch Becky Frank’s Civic Genius video

 

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