Curriculum expert to deliver talk
The Future of the A&S Curriculum Committee will host curriculum expert and author Roosevelt Montás for a talk and Q&A session on Friday, April 14, at 3 p.m. in Alumni Hall, room 201.
The topic of discussion aligns with the author’s latest book, Rescuing Socrates: How the Great Books Changed My Life and Why They Matter for a New Generation. Montás, a senior lecturer in American studies and English at Columbia University, is also the former director of Columbia’s Center for the Core Curriculum. He speaks widely on the history, place, and future of liberal arts education.
“Our committee is thrilled to have Roosevelt Montás visiting our campus and talking with faculty and students—both as a teacher who has thought deeply about the importance of engaging undergraduates in the biggest questions one can ask and as a public intellectual who has made a spirited case for the value of a liberal arts education,” said Sarah Igo, Curriculum Committee chair, dean of strategic initiatives, and Andrew Jackson Chair in American History.
Montás was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York as a teen, where he attended school in Queens before entering Columbia College through its Opportunity Programs. His dissertation there, Rethinking America, won the 2004 Bancroft Award, and he’s also received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Student. In Rescuing Socrates, Montás talks of the power of great books to transform the life of an individual, and the place that the study of these books should have in a university education.
A Q&A will be held with Montás, as well as a reception following the event. All in the Vanderbilt community are invited to attend.