If you are not familiar with the show, House of Cards is a Netflix original series about American modern day politics. The show originally premiered in 2013, receiving rave reviews leading up to its recently released season four. Starring Kevin Spacey who plays Frank Underwood, a Democrat from South Carolina’s 5th congressional district, the series explores themes of political manipulation, deceit, and ruthless rise to power.
If you are a Limestone social work student and have not jumped on the show bandwagon, here are three reasons why it may be time to play catch up.
- Limestone gets mentioned
Okay, so you don’t have to be a social work student to get excited about the fact that your school gets mentioned in a hit show like House of Cards. Yes, that’s right, Limestone College received a spotlight in Season 4, Episode 3 when Spacey’s character Frank gives a speech at Limestone College during his campaign trail in South Carolina. Though the actual scene was not filmed at Limestone College, the following is shared by the character Celia Jones —played by actress Lisa Gay Hamilton — about Limestone during a scene where she introduces Frank to the audience.
“I just learned today that Limestone College, founded in 1845, was the first women’s college in South Carolina, and one of the first in the nation. And that’s something to be proud of. And since then, this school and its students have flourished. A young, eager community of men and women of all races and backgrounds, a true reflection of America’s future.”
- Political issues are social issues
You may be thinking that the political scene has little to do with your desire to battle real social issues. However, social issues have a dominant presence in almost all political campaigns. In fact, most campaigns consist of messages surrounding three to four key issues like economy, taxes, healthcare and education that bear significant impact on the challenges and issues social workers face every day. The same is true in House of Cards, particularly in season four where the audience gets to see a play on many of the issues taking center stage in the current 2016 primaries.
- Social workers can run for office
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) encourages social workers to run for office because their understanding of social issues makes them ideally positioned to inform real solutions on how to aid and empower communities. Such opportunities allow social workers to create impact on a larger scale, a precedent set by many social workers that have served and continue to serve in public office today. For anyone interested in running for public office, House of Cards may offer an interesting look into many aspects of political campaigning that are not always apparent from outside in.