Arendt and Tocqueville: Public Freedom, Plurality, and the Preconditions of Liberty

EDST is co-sponsoring this presentation by Dana Villa:

In nineteenth century political theory, Alexis de Tocqueville was known for his focus on civil society and his emphasis on a robust associational pluralism in the public sphere. In the twentieth century, Hannah Arendt was equally well-known for her critique of the over-valuation of unity in western political thought, and her emphasis on the phenomenon of human plurality as constitutive of the public realm. Professor Villa’s talk gives both thinkers credit where credit is due, but questions aspects of their thought that undercut their respective commitments to pluralism and plurality in politics.

DANA VILLA is Packey Dee Professor of Political Theory at the University of Notre Dame. He is the author of Arendt and Heidegger: the Fate of the Political (Princeton, 1995), Politics, Philosophy, Terror (Princeton, 1999), Socratic Citizenship (Princeton, 2001), and Public Freedom (Princeton, 2008). Before taking up his position at the University of Notre Dame, he held senior positions at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Santa Barbara. He has also been a Visiting Professor of Government at Harvard, and has held fellowships at the American Academy in Berlin, the Institute for Advanced Study, and Princeton’s University Center for Human Values.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012
SFU Vancouver Campus, Harbour Centre
515 West Hastings
Reception 6–7:30 p.m. Teck Gallery
Presentation 7:30 p.m. room 2270
Further Information: Autumn Knowlton

EDST alumni video interviews

Dr. Suzanne Scott

We have released two new video interviews featuring EDST alumni. Dr. Suzanne Scott, who completed her PhD in the Department of EDST and graduated in fall 2011, talks about her higher education research, its significance, and what EDST means to her.

We also talked about school segregation and anti-racism with Dr. Timothy J. Stanley. Dr. Stanley is an EDST alumnus and currently a professor and vice dean of academic programs in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. He visited EDST on November 22, 2011, to give a talk about his new book, Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Anti-Racism, and the Making of Chinese Canadians (2011, UBC Press). He talks about what he hopes the reader will gain from the book, and sends a message for students in EDST.

Watch the complete interviews on our website or YouTube channel.

Contesting White Supremacy

Don’t miss Dr. Tim Stanley, on Tuesday, November 22, when he will present his book Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Antiracism and the Making of Chinese Canadians, new from UBC Press. He will give a presentation on his book and other projects at 12:30–2 p.m. in the Ponderosa G Lounge. That evening there will be a reception and talk at 5–7 p.m. at St. John’s College, UBC Point Grey Campus. See the EDST website and UBC Events calendar for more details.

Interview with Professor Hans Pechar

CHET presents a video interview with Professor Hans Pechar (University of Klagenfurt, Vienna) about the Humboldt Myth and the Bologna process in Europe, filmed September 6, 2011.

Hans Pechar: The Humboldt Myth and the Bologna Process

On Tuesday, September 6, the Centre for Policy Studies in Higher Education & Training (CHET) will host a presentation by Hans Pechar, on “The Humboldt Myth and the Bologna Process.” The presentaiton will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Ponderosa H, Room 123. See the event poster for an abstract.

Images of Identity: Self and Other in School Textbooks of the Palestinian Authority

On June 1, 2011, EDST presented Dr. Samira Alayan speaking on “Images of Identity: Self and Other in School Textbooks of the Palestinian Authority.” The study analyzes representations of self and “Other” in ministry-approved history textbooks for secondary level in Palestine. Samira Alayan holds a PhD in the sociology of education from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a research fellow at the Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany. Her research focuses on education in the Middle East in conflict and post-conflict settings.

If you want to learn more about the topic, read the abstract (.pdf) and the event poster.

Guest speaker: “Globalization and Educational policies"

The Department of Educational Studies was pleased to present a talk by visiting guest speaker, Professor Abdeljalil Akkari of the University of Geneva, Switzerland where he is an associate professor in the Department of Education. Professor Akkari’s talk, “Globalization and Educational policies: The challenge of diversity,” explored two-tiered educational systems emerging from educational policies. His main research interests now focus on teacher education and reforms of educational systems in a comparative perspective. The talk was arranged by Dr. André Mazawi of EDST.

A detailed description of the event is on our website.

Dr. Blye Frank presents research at EDST

The recently appointed Dean of the Faculty of Education, Dr. Blye Frank, visited the Department of Educational Studies on April 19, 2011 to present his recent research into models of masculinity, and to meet EDST faculty and staff. Many EDST members listened to the talk, which focused on masculinity and health, then shared refreshments and conversations with Dr. Frank.

Dr. Blye Frank has been appointed as Dean of the Faculty of Education at UBC for a five-year term, effective April 1, 2011. Dr. Frank is an experienced educator and administrator who brings a strong commitment to excellence in research, teaching and academic leadership. He has an active research career and is currently conducting research in the areas of men, masculinities, and health. Dr. Frank served as principal investigator in the Exemplary Schools Project, a federally funded study on successful schools in Canada. He has held major research grants from the Social Science Humanities Research Council of Canada for research in the area of masculinity and schooling. He has been involved in several international projects in Tanzania, Turkey, Pakistan and currently with a World Bank funded project in medical education reform in Kazakhstan. Frequently invited to present papers and keynote addresses to academic and professional conferences at the local, provincial, national and international level, Dr. Frank has appeared as an expert witness on human rights issues and has served on a number of local and national boards.

Gender and Higher Education in Times of Globalization

Dr. Nelly Stromquist

On March 10, 2011, as part of the Public Culture Series of Educational Studies, Dr. Nelly Stromquist of University of Maryland will give a talk, “Gender and Higher Education in Times of Globalization.” The typical US university encounters globalization primarily through competition with other universities for prestige and resources. These are the rewards they hope to gain by securing major funding for research, by emphasizing scientific and technological discoveries and marketable products, and by attaining top ranks in comparison with institutional peers at home and abroad. In this context, what types of knowledge are considered relevant? What spaces are left for critical thinking and voices? What specific challenges does gender face in research universities? My presentation will attempt to place challenges and possibilities in balance.

Dr. Stromquist holds a PhD degree in International Development Education from Stanford University and a master’s in political science from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She specializes in issues related to social change and gender, which she examines from the perspective of critical sociology. Her research interests focus on the dynamics of educational policies and practices, gender relations, and equity, particularly in Latin America. She is author of numerous articles and several books. Among the books as sole author, most recent are Feminist Organizations and Social Transformation in Latin America (2006); Education in a Globalized World. The Connectivity of Economic Power, Technology, and Knowledge (2002); and Literacy for Citizenship: Gender and Grassroots Dynamics in Brazil (1997). She is also editor of La construcción del género en las políticas públicas. Perspectivas comparadas desde América Latina (2006); Distant Alliances. Promoting the Education of Girls and Women in Latin America (with Regina Cortina, 2000), Globalization and Culture: Integration and Contestation Across Cultures (with Karen Monkman, 2000). She was a Fulbright New Century Scholar during 2005–06 and is former president of the Comparative and International Education Society.
[Update]
A video recording of Dr. Stromquist’s talk is now available on the EDST website.

Todd May: Friendship as Resistance

Professor Todd May

On January 10th, as part of the Public Culture Series of Educational Studies, Professor Todd May of Clemson University, South Carolina gave a free lecture, “Friendship as Resistance: A struggle against consumerism and entrepreneurship in neoliberal times”.

Congratulations on a very successful genuinely public intellectual event, which generated a good deal of dialog and thought, bringing out students, faculty and most importantly, living up to what our Department is all about, opening space for discussion of matters crucial to education and social justice. I wish to commend Shayna Plaut and Jeannie Kerr for their thoughtful provocations of Todd May’s talk. I also thank Dr. Claudia Ruitenberg for her tireless efforts to bring Todd here. Thanks as well go to Kjell Rubenson, Nora Timmerman & Carrie Hunter, and Roweena Bacchus of the Public Culture Committee, The Democracy Cluster, Policy Studies Cluster, & SCPE and Don for hosting the wine & cheese. I counted some 45 in our audience from across the campus.

Please provide feedback to the Public Culture Committee about this event, its format and ways to increase our dialog and community. Also, see the Jan.–March 2011 lineup of speakers in the Series on our website announcing future talks in the Public Culture Series.

Professor Leslie G. Roman, Chair, Public Culture Committee