March 12, 2024
SIU Paul Simon Institute discussion to center on higher education reform
CARBONDALE, Ill. — Brian Rosenberg, president emeritus of Macalester College and visiting professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will join Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Paul Simon Public Policy Institute on Tuesday, March 19, for a virtual conversation about the difficulty of reform in higher education.
Rosenberg will join John Shaw, the institute’s director, to discuss the need for higher education reform and Rosenberg’s 2023 book, “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It: Resistance to Change in Higher Education.”
The discussion, via Zoom at 10 a.m., is free and open to the public, but registration is required. The conversation is part of the institute’s “Understanding Our New World” discussion series. Visit paulsimoninstitute.org/events to register.
“Dr. Rosenberg’s book is a powerful and persuasive plea for fundamental changes in America’s higher education system. He is willing — and often eager — to take on some of the most established practices in higher education, such as shared governance and tenure, and argue they work against the transformational reform many profess to support,” Shaw said. “It’s difficult to read his book and listen to his arguments and not think differently about higher education in the United States.”
Rosenberg is a native of New York City and has an undergraduate degree in English from Cornell University and a master’s and doctorate from Columbia University. An expert on Charles Dickens, Rosenberg has been an English professor and a faculty dean. He was the president of Macalester College from 2003 to 2020. He is now a visiting professor at Harvard Graduate School of Education and a senior adviser to the African Leadership University.
Attendees are encouraged to submit questions for Rosenberg on the registration form or email questions to paulsimoninstitute@siu.edu.
More information, a list of the institute’s upcoming events and past speakers and events are available.