School of Education’s Centennial Lecture Series to focus on literacy and inclusionAugust 04, 2006Patrick Farrellpmfarrel@syr.edu
As part its yearlong centennial celebration, the Syracuse University School of Education has invited four leading intellectuals in the field of education to headline the first of what will become an annual Landscape of Urban Education Lecture Series. These thought leaders have not only anticipated the challenges facing education today, but are working to identify solutions with a special emphasis on improving literacy and inclusion in public schools.
“To celebrate more than 100 years of striving for excellence in preparing teachers and finding new ways to make a meaningful education available to all, the School of Education is proud to invite these four leaders in education scholarship to Syracuse,” says School of Education Dean Douglas Biklen. “These speakers stand out for their creativity and tenacity in addressing complex but important questions in education.”
Each of this season’s speakers, profiled below, exemplifies excellence in revitalizing a commitment to quality public education.
Elisa Hyman, executive director, Advocates for Children in NY: “Combating the Culture of Exclusion in the Era of High Stakes Accountability in Urban Schools,” Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. in Room 220 of Eggers Hall (Public Events Room).
Hyman heads Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), a not-for-profit organization with the mission of improving access to quality public education in New York City. AFC focuses on children who are most at risk of school failure as a result of discrimination based on disability, poverty, immigration status, involvement in the juvenile justice and foster care systems, and exposure to family violence. Hyman handles impact litigation in state and federal courts, supervises AFC’s attorneys, represents parents and children in the full range of school-related legal matters in administrative and court proceedings, conducts education policy analysis, works on program development and fundraising, and trains professionals on education law. Prior to coming to AFC, she was the assistant general counsel for Safe Horizon (1995-98) and an associate in the litigation department of White & Case (1991-95).
Ken Zeichner, professor of teacher education, University of Wisconsin-Madison: “Preserving the Role of Public Education in Democratic Societies”: Oct. 26 at 4 p.m. in Rooms 304 A, B and C of the Schine Student Center.
Zeichner is Hoefs-Bascom Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also serves as associate dean for undergraduate and teacher education.
Zeichner is a research team member of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Study and is co-chair of the Consensus Panel on Research in Teacher Education of the American Educational Research Association. Among his most recent research projects is “Educating Teachers for the 21st Century Through Collaborative Use of Technology,” funded by a University of Wisconsin System PK-16 Technology Grant. His international experience includes work as a consultant for the USAID Master’s/Ph.D. program for the Namibian Ministry of Education Personnel and for the University of Ume? Teacher Education Reform Project in Ume?, Sweden.
Zeichner has been recognized for his research excellence as a recipient of the Margaret B. Lindsey Award for Distinguished Contributions to Research on Teacher Education from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (2002) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Education Distinguished Achievement Award (2000).
He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. at the Syracuse University School of Education. Zeichner also is the featured speaker in the 2006 Ganders Distinguished Lecture Series.
Kris D. Gutierrez, professor of social research methodology, UCLA: “Looking for Educational Equity: Immigrants, Migrants and the New Latino Diaspora,” Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.
Gutierrez is professor of social research methodology at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Her current research interests include a study of the sociocultural contexts of literacy development, particularly the study of the acquisition of academic literacy for language minority students. Her research also focuses on understanding the relationship between language, culture, development and pedagogies of empowerment.
Her recent publications include “Toward a decolonizing pedagogy: Social justice reconsidered” (In P. Trifonas, Ed., Pedagogy of Difference. Routledge) and “Hypermediating in the Urban Classroom: When Scaffolding becomes Sabotage in Narrative Activity” (In C. D. Baker, J. Cook-Gumperz, and A. Luke, Eds., Literacy and Power. Oxford: Blackwell).
Julie Eizenberg, AIA, Koning EizenbergArchitecture: “Expectations Need to Change,” April 25 at 4 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.
Eizenberg is a founding principal of Koning Eizenberg Architecture, established in 1981. The firm pioneered — and continues to practice — socially conscious architectural design with emphasis on projects that include tight-budget affordable multiunit housing, community buildings, recreation centers, schools, homes, hotels, stores and work spaces. She brings design vision and leadership to the firm’s wide range of projects and takes responsibility for setting the ideological and conceptual framework for these designs. Her experience in reconciling various community interests while maintaining design excellence is demonstrated in many consensus-building, community-based projects involving cities, nonprofit agencies, community groups and private developers. She teaches and lectures extensively throughout the United States and abroad, and is frequently invited to serve on award juries.
She is a peer reviewer for the GSA Design Excellence program and recipient of the Association of Women in Architecture 2004 Design Excellence Award. Under her and partner Hank Koning’s lead, the firm has earned numerous awards for their projects and was named the 2004 Residential Architect Firm of the Year. In recent years, as a result of Eizenberg’s design direction, Koning Eizenberg has won two national competitions — Chicago Public School Northside and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, which opened in November 2004 to widespread acclaim.
Established in 1906, Syracuse University’s School of Education is a national leader in improving and informing educational practice for diverse communities. The school is committed to the principle that diverse learning communities create the conditions that both enrich the educational experience and provide opportunities for all to realize their full potential. A pioneer in the inclusion movement in the United States, the School of Education is dedicated to finding new ways to make it possible for all learners to participate fully in mainstream classrooms and other inclusive learning environments.
For additional information about the Centennial Lecture Series, contact Stacey Hall at (315) 443-5836 or smhall01@syr.edu, or visit http://soeweb.syr.edu/academics/professionalOrgs/.
