News from
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
Communications and Publications, Stanhope Hall
Princeton, New Jersey 08544
Tel 609/258-3601; Fax 609/258-1301
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: March 5, 1996
Contacts:
Justin Harmon, 609/258-5732
Princeton University
Joan Gilbert, 609/924-9424
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
Princeton Anniversary Conference to Frame Discussion on Future of Higher Education
PRINCETON, N.J. -- A national conference on higher education will be held at Princeton March 21 to 23 as part of the University's celebration of its 250th anniversary. The events on the last day of the conference, on March 23, will be open by registration to members of the public.
Convened by Princeton's president, Harold T. Shapiro, and his immediate predecessor, William G. Bowen, now president of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the conference will explore a set of questions of interest to educators, policy-makers, scholars and others concerned with the future of higher education, including:
- trends in selective admission and in financial aid
- the question of standards for professional conduct of faculty
- institutional accountability to society at large
- the value of diversity and the role of affirmative action
- trends in institutional costs
- electronic technologies and scholarly communication
- the role of athletics in undergraduate life.
The roster of presenters includes a number of present and former university presidents, as well as national policy-makers and prominent humanists and social and natural scientists.
On March 23, three public sessions will explore:
Science and Government , 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall. A paper by Daniel Kevles, professor of the humanities at The California Institute of Technology, explores the nature of the relationship between science and government, which has been shaped by Cold War concerns in recent decades and now is undergoing substantial change. Commentary is provided by Frank Press, former president of the National Academy of Sciences and currently a senior fellow at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and by Maxine Singer, president of the Carnegie Institution.
Structural Change in the Humanities , 10:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Richardson Auditorium. The humanities disciplines have been roiled over the last generation by new kinds of theory, new social aims, and new institutional arrangements, yet many question whether these disturbances have caused fundamental changes in the practice of literature, history, or philosophy. A panel, featuring Lynn Avery Hunt, professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, Louis M. Menand, professor of English at CUNY's Graduate Center, and Sir Frank Kermode, fellow of King's College, Cambridge, examines such areas as demographic change, professionalism, and the epistemological shift.
The University President Then and Now , 1 p.m., Rockefeller College. Princeton President Harold Shapiro reflects on the changing nature of the university presidency. Drawing from archival records, he compares the activities of 19th century presidential ``giants'' with the activities of contemporary university presidents. Hanna Holborn Gray, professor of history and president emeritus at the University of Chicago, offers commentary.
The $30 registration fee for the March 23 sessions includes lunch, which will be served at 12:30 p.m. at Dillon Gym. Registration is available through the Center for Visitor and Conference Services, 71 University Place, Princeton, NJ 08544-2088.