Georgia Southern University to Host ‘Academically Adrift’ Co-Author Richard Arum, Ph.D. for Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series

September 19, 2012

Captivating author Richard Arum, Ph.D. will address Georgia Southern University on the topic of “Learning During Unsettled Times: College Graduates’ Academic Performance and Recent Experiences in the US” as the 2012 Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series, Wednesday, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m., in the Nessmith-Lane Conference Center Assembly Hall.  The event is open to the public and there is no cost for admission.

Arum is co-author of “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” which raises questions about the quality of the academic and social experiences of college students and calls for refocusing attention on the fundamental goals of higher education. Dr. Arum’s co-author is Josipa Roksa.

The Norman Fries Distinguished Lectureship Series at Georgia Southern began in 2001. It is funded by an endowment in honor of the late Norman Fries, who was the founder of Claxton Poultry. In his more than 50 years in business, Fries built the company from a one-man operation into one of the nation’s largest poultry production plants. This year’s Fries Lectureship is sponsored by the College of Education.

About Richard Arum, Ph.D.

Arum is professor in the Department of Sociology with a joint appointment in the Steinhardt School of Education and director of the Institute for Human Development and Social Change at New York University.  He is also director of the Education Research Program of the Social Science Research Council, where he oversaw the development of the Research Alliance for New York City Schools, a research consortium designed to conduct ongoing evaluation of the New York City public schools.  He is coauthor of Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses (University of Chicago Press, 2011), the author of Judging School Discipline: The Crisis of Moral Authority in American Schools (Harvard University Press, 2003), and co-editor of a comparative study on expansion, differentiation and access to higher education in fifteen countries, Stratification in Higher Education: A Comparative Study (Stanford University Press, 2007) as well as the cross-national project Improving Learning Environments: School Discipline and Student Achievement in Comparative Perspective (Stanford University Press, 2012).  Arum received a Masters of Education in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.

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Georgia Southern University, a Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 120 degree programs serving more than 20,000 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. In 2012, the University was named one of the Top 10 most popular universities in the country by U.S. News & World Report and is a top choice of Georgia’s HOPE scholars.  Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered approach to education. Visit: www.georgiasouthern.edu.