CONTACT: Mary Beth Zeman, 973-720-2444 zemanm@wpunj.edu

April 18, 2007

GLOBALIZATION AND ITS IMPACT ON HIGHER EDUCATION IS FOCUS OF CONFERENCE AT WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY ON APRIL 26 AND 27
—Douglas Kellner, UCLA philosophy professor, is keynote speaker

The transforming impact of globalization policies on the structure and purposes of higher education practices in the United States and around the world will be explored during a two-day conference at William Paterson University in Wayne on April 26 and 27, 2007.

The conference, “Globalization and Higher Education,” will be held in the University’s 1600 Valley Road building from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on April 26, and 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on April 27. Admission is $60 for professionals seeking continuing education units, $40 for faculty and the general public, and free for students with ID. The event is designed to provide faculty, students, and the community with a unique opportunity to explore the issue of higher education in a global context through a series of panel presentations and discussions.

Douglas Kellner, the George F. Kneller Chair in the Philosophy of Education, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA, will be the keynote speaker.  Kellner, whose research focuses on the relevance of new technologies to education, politics, and everyday life, will discuss “Education, Technological Transformation, and the Dialectics of Globalization,” on April 26 at 7:30 p.m.

The conference demonstrates an effort to bring policy makers and scholars together to discuss higher education issues connected to globalization. “This unique conference will address the most challenging questions facing higher education today—you will benefit whether you are faculty worried about academic integrity and workload issues, students and families facing loan debt and rising tuition costs, or administrators worried about the loss of federal and state aid,” says Christine Kelly, an associate professor of political science at William Paterson and an organizer of the conference.  “World-renowned scholars will address the impact of globalization policies on higher education and ask whether or not universities are educating our young for a democratic, global future.”

Conference events begin on April 26 at 5:30 p.m. with a panel discussion, “Global Perspectives on Higher Education: South Africa, Mexico and France.”  Leslie Agard-Jones, dean of William Paterson’s College of Education, will serve as discussant, and Martin Weinstein, William Paterson University professor of political science, will chair the panel, which will feature Greg Anderson, associate professor of higher and postsecondary education, Columbia University Teacher’s College; Anne-Marie Autissier, co-director of the master’s program in politics and cultural policy management at the Institute for European Studies, University of Paris VIII in Saint Denis, France; and Silvie Didou-Aupetit, a full-time researcher at the Center for Research and Advanced Studies in Mexico and UNESCO chair on quality assurance and new providers of higher education in Latin America.

On Friday, April 27, the conference continues at 9:30 a.m. with a panel, “Transformation of University Functions: 1957-2007,” chaired by Michael Thompson, William Paterson University assistant professor in political science and founder and editor of Logos, a journal of modern society and culture. Panelists include Clyde Barrow, chair of the department of policy studies and director for policy analysis, University of Massachusetts; Gordon Lafer, associate professor, Labor Education and Research Center, University of Oregon; and Christine Kelly, associate professor of political science, William Paterson University; Kellner will serve as discussant.

At 11 a.m., two panel discussions will be held. “Educating Global Nomads: Borders, Business and Hegemony” will be chaired by John Mason, William Paterson University political science professor. Members of the panel include: Autissier; Didou-Aupetit; Daniel J. Tichenor, associate professor of political science and research professor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, Rutgers University; and Enrique Pumar, assistant professor of sociology, William Paterson University.  Aaron Tesfaye, assistant professor of political science at William Paterson, is the discussant.  “Labor Pains: Unions and the Future of Higher Education,” chaired by Diana M. Judd, William Paterson University assistant professor of political science will include Susanna Tardi, William Paterson professor of sociology and president of AFT Local 1796, as discussant, and panelists Lafer; David Schultz, professor, Graduate School of Management, Hamline University; and Lois Weiner, professor of elementary/secondary education, New Jersey City University.

The 2 p.m. closing panel, “Education for Sale: The Growing Divide,” is chaired by Stephen R. Shalom, William Paterson University professor of political science. The panelists include: Schultz; Stanley Aronowitz, distinguished professor of sociology and director of the Center for Cultural Studies, CUNY Graduate Center; and Tom DeGloma, founding organizer of the Tent State University movement.  Arnold Lewis, assistant professor of political science, is the discussant.

The conference is co-sponsored by William Paterson University’s Department of Political Science, College of Education, Center for Continuing and Professional Education, the American Democracy Project and American Federation of Teachers, Local 1796.

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