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anne hale speaker series

Dr. Mark Taylor to Speak at Hale Series

 

            “Crisis on Campus” will be the focus of the next talk in the Anne M. Hale Speaker Series at Westfield Memorial Library.

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            Dr. Mark Taylor, a Westfield native and chairman of the religion department at Columbia University, will speak about the  “Crisis on Campus,” the title of his  2010 book that presents a plan for reforming colleges and universities.

            The talk is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1, at 7 p.m. at the Westfield Memorial Library, 550 East Broad  St.

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            According to a Wall Street Journal review by Naomi Riley, Taylor believes that “reform is inevitable,” and that the campus crisis is akin to “one that financial institutions faced when the housing bubble burst.”  

            In a 2009 op-ed piece in The New York Times, Taylor argued that “if American higher education is to thrive in the 21st century, colleges and universities must be restructured. Among the steps he suggested to make education more adaptive were:  restructuring the curriculum, transforming the traditional dissertation, and replacing tenure with seven-year contracts that can be terminated or renewed.       

            Taylor, who also is a professor emeritus at Williams College, was graduated from Westfield High School and Wesleyan University, and received his PhD from Harvard University. He was named the 1995 National Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation.

The Hale series is named after Anne Hale, a Westfield resident and library patron who passed away in 2007. Funding for the talks comes through grants from the Thomas Glasser Foundation and the Lee and Anne Hale Fund. The series, free and open to the public, is hosted by the Friends of the Library. Those planning to attend are asked to register on the Online Calendar posted on the library’s website at www.wmlnj.org  of by phoning 908 789 4090 Extension 7951.

           

 

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