Ideological Hegemony and Higher Education: Ideas as Material Forces

Monday, November 15, 2021 - 1:00pm
CST
Dan Morris & Harry Targ

The attacks on “critical race theory” are part of an assault by some powerful political and economic forces, including allies of the Koch Foundation, who seek to shape who and what is taught in educational systems. Universities, long sites for the contestation of ideas, are being transformed into promoters of the prevailing economic and political orthodoxies.

Professors Harry Targ and Dan Morris will examine how the ideology of neoliberalism is becoming hegemonic in higher education. Dan Morris, a literary scholar and poet, will examine the views of Michael Crow, president of Arizona State, who is shaping his university along the lines promoted by the Koch brothers.

Harry Targ, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Purdue University, will discuss how his university has been similarly transformed. Targ is co-chair of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. He is author of books and articles on international relations, Cuba, and the labor movement. He also blogs at Diary of a Heartland Radical.

This webinar builds on last week’s discussion of the Koch brothers stealth plan against democracy in the interest of the wealthy.

UPCOMING TOURS

June 15, 2025 to June 25, 2025
Join us in an exciting visit to Cuba--a country committed to building socialism. We will learn about Cuba’s stunning accomplishments such as free health care and education, its collective production in agricultural and urban cooperatives, We will dialogue with leading thinkers about their visions... Read more
March 3, 2025 to March 7, 2025

We will depart from San Miguel early in the morning to Patzcuaro, where we will spend three days. We will visit the most important buildings and churches in Patzcuaro and also visit a number of nearby indigenous villages:

Upcoming Forums & Films

Monday, February 3, 2025 - 1:00pm
CST
José Alfredo Gutiérrez Falcón
Location:
Join in person at the Hotel Quinta Loreto Community Room

While much of the world is shifting to the right, Mexico is moving in a progressive direction. In 2018, the electoral victory of Andrés Manuel López Obrador of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA party) initiated "The Fourth Transformation" which is working, against entrenched opposition,... Read more

Monday, February 17, 2025 - 1:00pm
CST
Joe Belden
Location:
Join in person at the Hotel Quinta Loreto Community Room

Manifest destiny was the belief that westward expansion of the US from 13 Atlantic colonies to the Pacific was natural, predetermined, and even divinely ordained. But were Indians, Mexicans, and the buffalo just in the way? This lecture will briefly examine and discuss such events as our expulsion and removal of Indian tribes; the US... Read more

Monday, March 3, 2025 - 1:00pm
CST
Omar S. Dahi
Location:
Join in person at the Hotel Quinta Loreto Community Room

Omar S. Dahi is Professor of Economics at Hampshire College and Founding Director of Security in Context, a research network on peace, conflict, and global affairs. He was born and raised in Syria and currently lives with his wife and two children in Amherst. Dahi has served as a lead expert on the United Nations Economic and Social... Read more