Will be taped and posted soon ….
Colleges and universities have a special responsibility to provide an open forum for intellectual critique of social movements, particularly when something hits close to home. Academic faculty must be vigilant in guarding the principles and values of higher education, as well as its core mission to advance human knowledge and progress. For just over ten years, we have been promoting discussions about neoliberalism and higher education. Since the 1980s, higher education–along with all other institutions–has felt the impact of a political economic movement known broadly as neoliberalism, which promotes radical individualism, limited government, flexible labor, and a social order based on the principle that markets are highly efficient and effective. In the last decade, neoliberalism has merged with rightwing populism, making it increasingly necessary to have public discussions about the type of society we want and the alternative paths that lead to a social order with less poverty and greater opportunities for all. Today, however, American higher education is under assault and must defend its values and practices if its autonomy and academic freedom are to survive.
Joseph Juhász
Hosted by Joseph B. Juhász, Professor Emeritus of Architecture and Environmental Design, College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado. He is an author and co-author of well over 200 professional publications and has published extensively in the press and other media for a more general readership. He produces his own radio programs on KGNU radio in Boulder, Colorado. He has won numerous design competitions and is the former President of the Division of the American Psychological Association devoted to Psychology and the Arts. He was an active duty Naval Officer from 1961 to 1965. He graduated with Honors and Cum Laude from Brown University in 1961 and was awarded a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 1969. He has been a Professor at Bennington College, Bucknell University, U.C. Santa Cruz, University of Toronto, and University of Otago. He has received numerous grants and fellowships. He was born in Hungary in 1938, where he survived the Holocaust, was a refugee from there, and immigrated to the United States in 1951. He resides in Boulder, Colorado.
Rubén Martinez
Rubén Martinez is a professor emeritus in sociology at Michigan State University, where he was the longest-serving director of the Julian Samora Research Institute. During his career, he held posts as a faculty leader in academic governance, department chair, assistant vice chancellor for academic and multicultural affairs, and associate provost; he also directed a student academic support center and three different research centers. He is the founder of FutureU, the author of several articles and books, and the editor of the Latinos in the U.S. book series through Michigan State University Press.
Frank Fear
Frank A. Fear is a professor emeritus at Michigan State University. A sociologist, he is interested in how public and nonprofit institutions—notably higher education—support and enable democracy and citizen action, and is well known for his work in community-engaged scholarship and practice. In addition to his academic roles, Fear served as a department chair, statewide associate director of MSU Extension, inaugural director of MSU’s Liberty Hyde Bailey Scholars program, and senior associate dean in MSU’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. He manages FutureU’s website, social media platforms, and video series.
