Education Policy Closes Election Series

The last of six significant issues of the 2012 Presidential campaign -- education policy -- will be discussed tonight at 7 in the Barrington library auditorium.

It closes out the series: "Take Six: The Big Issues of 2012."

Luther Spoehr, a senior lecturer and education historian at Brown University, will talk about education policy. His areas of specialization are history of American higher education, school reform, and teaching history.

The lecturer's first-year seminar, "Campus on Fire," looks at American colleges and universities in the 1960s. Other courses include a survey of the history of American higher education, the history of intercollegiate athletics, and the history of academic freedom.

Spoehr also concentrates on best practices in the teaching of history and frequently consults with schools and school systems that want to improve their history teaching, according to the Brown website.

"In my work on the history of education," Spoehr says on the website, "I focus primarily on the history of American school reform in the 20th century and the changing definitions of academic freedom in the history of higher education. I also work extensively on issues involved in teaching history: how to use primary sources to help students learn to "think historically;" setting up performance-based, "authentic" assessment in standards-based curricula; developing interdisciplinary approaches; and taking advantage of new classroom technologies."

Spoehr holds a B.A. degree in history from Haverford College, an M.A. in history from Stanford University, and a Ph.D in history from Stanford.

Registration for the seminar is not required. It is free and open to everyone.