Lecture Series at Duke Features Social Science Scholars

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

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DURHAM, NC -- Four social science experts -- economist Rebecca Blank, developmental psychologist Ron Haskins, sociologist Kathryn Edin and developmental and community psychologist Hirokazu Yoshikawa -- are the scheduled speakers for the 2008-2009 Sulzberger Distinguished Lecture Series at Duke University.

All of the lectures are from 3:30 to 5 p.m., with a reception following. The events, which are free and open to the public, take place in the Rhodes Conference Room of the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, 201 Science Drive, on Duke’s West Campus.  For more information or to register, call (919) 613-9350, e-mail ehlayko@duke.edu or visit www.childandfamilypolicy.duke.edu.

The schedule of speakers:

-- Blank begins the series Sept. 10 with “What Comes after Welfare Reform? A New Agenda for Fighting Poverty.” Blank is the Robert V. Kerr Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution. She also has served as dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan and co-director of the National Poverty Center. Her research has focused on the interaction between the macroeconomy, government anti-poverty programs, and the behavior and well-being of low-income families.  

-- On Nov. 5, Haskins presents “The Return of the Great Society? Fighting Poverty and Promoting Income Mobility.” Haskins is a senior fellow of economic studies at The Brookings Institution, co-directs the institution’s Center on Children and Families and is a senior consultant at the Annie E. Casey Foundation. He also has advised the president regarding welfare policy as senior advisor at the White House. He is an expert on preschool, foster care and poverty and was instrumental in the 1996 overhaul of the national welfare policy.

-- On Jan. 14, 2009, the series continues with Edin’s lecture, the title of which is forthcoming. Edin is professor of public policy and management at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Her research focuses on urban poverty and family life, social welfare, public housing, child support and nonmarital childbearing. Her current projects include a study of the Earned Income Tax Credit allocation among low-income households in Boston and central Illinois.  

-- On March 25, Yoshikawa completes the 2008-2009 series with his lecture “How Developmental Science Has Failed Children of Undocumented Immigrants and What Can Be Done about It.” Yoshikawa is professor of education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He conducts research on the development of young children in immigrant families and the effects of public policies on children’s development.

The Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke sponsors the Sulzberger Distinguished Lecture Series. The series, begun in 2006, is endowed by the Arthur Sulzberger Family.