Feinberg Family Distinguished Lecture Series | Is Higher Education Good for Our Communities? Assessing the Past and Forging a New Path Forward

With an eye to the University of Massachusetts, Davarian L. Baldwin will draw from his book In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower to discuss the “public good” of higher education as it has shifted from a service provider of education and research to acting as a major force of economic development and political governance in our communities. Today’s universities are embroiled in the swirling forces of student debt, labor organizing, corporatization, campus protest and suppression, and a waning public confidence in higher education. Baldwin will explore how we got here, the costs and benefits of what he calls “UniverCities,” and the possibilities for a more liberatory path forward. 

The 2024–25 Feinberg Series is presented by the UMass Amherst Department of History in collaboration with more than 2 dozen university partners. Co-sponsored by ISSR.