2023 Presidential Podcast Series

About the 2023 Season

Political forces have always shaped higher education whether through legislation, curricular reformation, partisan control of state appropriations to higher education, and private benefactors and philanthropies. What are the forces that are impinging on higher education’s purposes and practices today, and how can (or how should) higher education research direct the course of their effects?

Like our 2023 ASHE Annual Conference, our 2023 podcasts will be dedicated to this question. Our guests will engage with the question to broaden our understanding of and perspectives on what’s at stake for higher education’s purposes and practices now and in the years to come. In this podcast series, our ASHE co-hosts Drs. Felecia Commodore and Royel Johnson will invite scholars and higher education leaders to consider how political forces today affect higher education’s purposes and practices, and the role that we, as higher education researchers, can or should play in addressing these forces.

ASHE’s 2023 President Ana M. Martínez-Alemán invites you to listen to and reflect on these conversations, and to share the insights from our co-hosts and invited guests with your colleagues.

Hosts

Episode 1:
“A View from the Backyard”

In this first episode of the season, Drs. Commodore and Johnson chat with ASHE President, Dr. Martínez-Alemán about this year’s conference theme and her commitment to seeing beyond the well-tended roses ‘out front’ in higher education, to quote Gwendolyn Brooks. She shares insights about her scholarship, hopes for the podcast, and what we can expect at this year’s convening in Minnesota.

Panelist

Dr. Ana M. Martínez-Alemán
2023 President of the Association for the Study of Higher Education
Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs at Boston College

Episode 2:
Purposes: The Intended and Unexpected Outcomes of Higher Education

In this episode, Drs. Commodore and Johnson engage with scholars about the purpose(s) of higher education and the challenging social and political forces that impact college and universities from fulfilling their mission. Panelists reflect on the history of higher education and what lessons we might learn from to chart a more equitable and just future at this critical juncture.

Panelists

Dr. Bryan Brayboy (Lumbee)
Dean, School of Eduction and Social Policy
Northwestern University

Dr. Linda Eisenmann
Professor, Education and History
Wheaton College, Massachusetts

Episode 3:
Politics: Governance and Governing Boards

In this episode, Drs. Commodore and Johnson delve into the important role that state and institutional governing boards play in advancing equity in higher education and beyond. Panelists reflect on the purposes, politics and practices that shape governing bodies and their impact on effort to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.

Panelists

Dr. Demetri Morgan
Associate Professor
Loyola University Chicago

Rep. Harold Love
Legislator
Tennessee General Assembly

Episode 4:
Practice, Part 1: On-Going, New, and Emerging Impacts of Access

In this episode, Drs. Commodore and Johnson discuss with panelists the myriad of forces that are impacting access to higher education. They delve into the recent Affirmative Action decision, lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other imminent shifts that pose challenges to expanding college access for underserved populations. Panelists share insightful reflections and practical strategies for individuals and institutions committed to advancing equity.

Panelists

Dr. Liliana Garces
Professor
University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Kimberly Griffin
Dean of the College of Education
University of Maryland

Arthur Kelly
Program Specialist
Access College Foundation

Dr. Julie Posselt
Associate Dean of the Graduate School & Associate Professor
University of Southern California