‘Education Wars’ authors coming to URI to discuss ‘What’s “Public” about Public Education?’
KINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 17, 2025 – With debate about curriculum, changes to the federal Department of Education, and nearly half of states now enacting private school voucher plans, public education is at a critical moment.
Podcasters Jennifer Berkshire and Jack Schneider will examine the debate around public education, as they continue the 2025 University of Rhode Island Honors Colloquium Tuesday, Sept. 30, with “What’s ‘Public’ about Public Education? (And Will It Still Exist In 2028?).”
Schneider, a historian, and Berkshire, a journalist, co-host the education podcast “Have You Heard” and also co-authored “The Education Wars” in 2024. They’ll discuss how we got to this moment and what we stand to lose if public schools disappear. They’ll also outline an ambitious vision of what the “public” in public education can and should mean.
Hosted by the University’s Honors Program, this year’s edition of URI’s premier lecture series examines the evolving landscape of public education. Schneider and Berkshire will speak at 5:30 p.m. at Edwards Hall on the Kingston Campus for the second lecture in the fall colloquium series, “Education, Behind the Curtains,” which will also be streamed live (links will be available on the day of each event on the colloquium website).
Their lecture will be followed on Oct. 7 by Heather Shotton, president of Fort Lewis College in Colorado, speaking on “Becoming Indigenous-Serving Institutions.” For the full roster of colloquium speakers and sponsors, visit the 2025 Honors Colloquium site.
In addition to the speaker series, this year’s colloquium topic includes an education-focused art exhibit, “Revelations!”, in Green Hall, the Higgins Welcome Center and Lippitt Hall, which includes artwork and voices of more than 20 area educators, including several URI alumni.
This year’s program is led by Daniel Kelley and Lazaro Camacho Jr. ’02 ’06 in URI’s Feinstein College of Education. They hope to foster dialogue at this year’s colloquium, to bring the larger community into conversation on how schools, colleges, and universities can best serve students and society in today’s world.
The series concludes on Dec. 2, with a panel on the “State of Education in Rhode Island.”
Hosted by the University’s Honors Program, the annual URI Honors Colloquium is free and open to the public. To see recordings of last year’s speakers, or past colloquiums, visit the Honors Colloquium Archives. Sign up here for more information and reminders for colloquium events or by emailing urihonors@etal.uri.edu.
Latest All News
- URI President Marc Parlange will give State of the University Address Sept. 19KINGSTON, R.I.— Sept. 17, 2025— University of Rhode Island President Marc Parlange will celebrate the University’s progress and the achievements of its faculty, staff, students, and graduates during his annual State of the University address Friday, Sept. 19. The event will kick off the University’s Homecoming Weekend celebration. During his address, Parlange will highlight important […]
- URI filmmaker puts spotlight on vulnerable Saltmarsh SparrowKINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 17, 2025 – Rising tidal waters are posing increasing threats to one of our most inconspicuous shore dwellers: the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudicuta), found only in healthy salt marshes along the U.S. Atlantic coast. Weighing less than an ounce (the equivalent of three nickels), the sparrows nest in tidal salt marshes […]
- URI professor part of a select group of French educators to visit Côte d’Ivoire thanks to a Fulbright-Hays grantKINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 17, 2025 – Being a college professor is a 12-month job. Summers — far from being idle — are instead filled with continuing research, professional conferences, and the occasional well-earned vacation. As the summer winds down, many professors find themselves immersed in the quiet labor of preparing syllabi and refining lesson […]
- URI senior punches ticket to third straight U.S. women’s singlehanded collegiate sailing championshipKINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 17, 2025 — Okyanus Arikan, a senior kinesiology major on the University of Rhode Island club sailing team, won the New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association Women’s Singlehanded Championship September 12 at Brown University to qualify for the Women’s Singlehanded National Championship for the third year in a row. A member of […]
- R.I. economic status improves in July, but question of being in a recession remains, says URI economistSept. 15, 2025 WHAT: Rhode Island’s economic performance for July saw some improvement, however the Current Conditions Index once again failed to move into its expansion range, according to University of Rhode Island economist Len Lardaro. July’s CCI value matched April’s outcome of 50, returning to its neutral value after a two-month slide. Lardaro says […]
- Above the waves: A URI senior’s view from atop the wind turbines off Block IslandKINGSTON, R.I. – Sept. 15, 2025 – On clear days, standing on the bluffs of Block Island, Rhode Island, wind turbines jut out of the blue-green ocean. They sit perfectly still in the swaying of the ocean current. Sitting 15 nautical miles offshore, the wind is a constant companion for the turbines that generate renewable […]
