Higher Education in a Time of Growing Authoritarianism

Wednesday, February 26,2025, 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM.

Authoritarian Populism, a growing trend in the US and elsewhere, promotes disdain for, and sometimes fear of, different "others," established public institutions, elites, and intellectuals. Each of these tenets places a target on higher education for those who gain power in this movement. In this discussion, we will look at some of the specific attacks on colleges and universities that grow out of this loud and powerful ideology and that are occurring with greater frequency. Some may even wonder whether the university as we know it can survive. We will also look at some of the measures beleaguered universities may adopt to preserve and protect their traditional mission.
 

Iris Yob has taught and administered education in elementary and secondary schools, colleges and universities in Australia and the US. She completed her doctorate in the philosophy of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1990. She has published widely in education, serving as Associate Editor for the Journal Philosophy of Music Education (1991-2025) and as co-editor/contributor to the collection Humane Music Education for the Common Good (Indiana University Press, 2020). She has authored For Profit and for Good (Ethics International Press, 2022) and School is Sacred: A Philosophy of Education for Our Time (Peter Lang, in press). Her current research project is tentatively entitled Education Matters.

The presentation will be a virtual event from Florida to a group of attendees at the JFK Museum from 11 AM to 12:30 PM.  Following the presentation there will be a lunch at Alberto's Ristorante.  There is a $10 donation for the JFK Museum, and the cost for the lunch is $43, including tip.  The lunch will be plated, and you can order one of three entrees (beef, fish, vegetarian) once you are seated at the restaurant.  The lunch will include salad, dessert and coffee/tea.  

To download a registration form to mail-in for the presentation, please click here.  Otherwise: